Trueborn
by Danny vs A Month
Summary: What if Kaneki had been a half ghoul before meeting Rize, but it took nearly dying to awaken his dormant power? Could things have played out differently?
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

A.N.: As I'm writing this, I've only seen as far as the end of the prison episode where Kaneki grows the centipedes out of his back. Never read the manga either. Yes, I know I'm behind. Anyway, first Tokyo Ghoul story. Probably I'll be caught up to the anime by the second chapter.

Wrong Target

"There's no way you've got a chance with a girl like that," Hidei snorted. "She's way out of your league."

"Gee thanks," Kaneki grumbled. "You never know man."

"Yeah sure, and maybe everyone in this coffee shop is secretly a ghoul, and they're just waiting for us to drop our guard so they can eat us," Hidei snorted.

"Hey, I'm serious!" Kaneki complained.

"And so am I," Hidei snorted as the blue haired waitress began to walk over. "No chance."

Just then, the waitress arrived, setting their coffees down.

"Excuse me, but I'd just like to tell you you're very pretty," Hidei said suddenly, standing up. "Tell me, ma'am, what's your name?"

"W-What?" She stammered, blushing from the random attention. "O-Oh, it's Touka."

"I see," Hidei nodded. "Thank you very much."

And with that, he drained his coffee and left. Touka stared after him before raising an eyebrow at Kaneki.

"He's weird," Kaneki explained. "Sorry about him."

Kouta shrugged, taking Hidei's coffee cup and walking away. Kaneki glanced at the girl the discussion had originally been about, a violette haired girl in the corner. He had meant for it to be a quick glance but struggled to look away, at least until she glanced up at him, at which point he burried his face in his book again. After a moment, he lowered it, risking a glance only to see her watching him. As soon as their eyes met, she smiled at him and he felt his face heat up. Then, she returned her eyes to her own book and he stared at it. It was the same book he was reading.

He looked away before she could catch him staring again, but as he was sipping at his coffee, she suddenly sat down across from him, nearly making him spill it. He quickly stammered out a greeting and she smiled.

"That's an interesting taste in authors," she smiled.

"O-Oh, uh, yeah, I love her books," Kaneki stammered.

"Really? So do I! Of course, as much as you've been watching me the last couple of days, I'm sure you probqbly noticed." She grinned slyly at him and he gulped, blushing. She laughed.

"I-I'm s-sorry," he stammered.

She waved him off, smiling sweetly. She assured him it was alright and began to talk about why she loved the author. They talked for a while, longer than he expected, and he learned that her name was Rize. Then, he finally worked out the nerve to ask her out, using the excuse of being planning to go book shopping as an excuse. To his shock and joy, she agreed. Finally, he noticed the time, deciding he had to go. He apologized again before saying goodbye and paying for his coffee before leaving. He couldn't wait.

"I'm this way," Rize said, indicating the much, much darker alleyway that led past a construction area.

"Oh, uh, okay," Kaneki nodded.

They turned walking down that road, continuing to talk about books. The date had gone wonderfully. They had gotten something to eat, had gone book shopping, and when it had gotten late, he had agreed to walk her home, since she lived in the area where ghoul attacks had been much more frequent than before.

"This is me," Rize said finally, stopping in front of a door.

"Oh, okay," Kaneki said, disappointed that he had to say goodbye already. He took a deep breath, deciding he had to ask before he lost his nerve. "Miss Rize, I-I'd like to see you again, uh, that is, if you want to?"

"Oh, well, we do have similar taste in author, and we are the same age," she said. "We have a lot in common, so, sure."

"R-Really?" Kaneki smiled. "Th-That's good."

"But you know, I saw the way you were looking at me before," Rize said, Kaneki's face darkening instantly.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to offend-"

"I'm not offended," Rize said. "I'm glad."

"So then...you feel...the same?" Kaneki asked.

"I do," Rize said, leaning in and resting her head on his shoulder. "I want you as much as you want me."

Kaneki opened his mouth to speak just as Rize bit him, easily breaking the skin and ripping a chunk out. Kaneki screamed staggering away as Rize grinned wickedly, blood running down her chin.

"You see, here's the thing, there's something I love more than books," Rize grinned as he stared into her black eyes with glowing red irises. "And that's ripping the organs out of someone too terrified to run away from me! Oh how I love your face. So what do you say Kaneki? Will you let me...have my FUN!" She doubled over as four blood red, glowing tentacles burst out of her back.

He turned to run only for a massive red tentacle to catch his leg, dangling him in front of her.

"You can't run from me, silly," she gloated, launching him sideways.

He smashed through a wall then bounced off the ground before crashing to a stop in a massive pile of dirt. His brain briefly registered they were in the construction area before he found himself lifted up by the tentacles. Then, she began to stab him, one tentacle at a time, a psychotic laugh playing as the backtrack to his agony. He could see her lips moving but her couldn't hear anything through the sheer agony inside of him. Then, there was more pain. More white noise of sheer agony. Suddenly he was lying on the ground.

Rize's tentacles pulled back to strike again. Suddenly, a fury and a fear more powerful than even his agony filled him. He felt a blast of pain at the small of his back and shoved himself off the floor, four thick red tentacles shooting forward and driving themselves through her stomach. She shrieked in rage, shooting forward to attack him just as several cables above them holding up several dozen metal girders snapped, the girders plummeting toward them.

Rize screamed as they crashed down on her but Kaneki's arms shot up, the tentacles shooting upward to block them. Pain errupted through his body but faded rapidly, a burning sensation beginning at the small of his back. Then, he was lying under the girders, left arm and both legs broken but alive. It seemed the girders had mostly caught each other, sparing him the worst of the damage. He looked around as he heard a voice but just as he did, his vision faded to black.

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	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

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Changed Man

Kaneki opened his eyes, groaning. He looked around and saw a doctor sitting beside the bed, smiling down at him.

"How do you feel Mr. Kaneki?" The doctor asked.

"Sore," Kaneki said. "I guess that's good since it means I'm alive."

"Indeed," the doctor nodded. "You were lucky. It was like something shielded you. Instead of your organs being damaged, you only suffered a few broken bones."

"So, how long until I can leave?" Kaneki asked.

"We'll say about two days for now, pending the results of your next x-ray," the doctor said.

Kaneki nodded, lying back. Over the next couple of days, Hide cycled through the hospital daily, stopping by to see how his friend was doing. Instead of two days, Kaneki ended up in for another week. And every day of that week, he found food growing more and more revolting. He couldn't even chew twice before vomiting it back out. Finally, on the last day, the doctor came in around lunch time as Kaneki simply stared at the food he couldn't stomach no matter how hard he tried.

"The nurse tells me you haven't been eating anything," the doctor said. "Is this true?"

"I've been trying sir," Kaneki promised. "It's just...everything tastes awful to me now. The bread tastes moldy, and the meat tastes rancid."

The doctor chuckled. "I see. Well, I'm sure that problem will remedy itself soon enough. In any event, you're free to go."

Kaneki nodded, thanking him and stood, changing into the fresh clothes Hide had brought him. Then, he stood, leaving the hospital. He walked until he was sure he got away, slowing to a stop as he finally reached his house. He shut and locked the door, walking to his bed and dropping onto it, ignoring the shopping bag of food Hide had somehow managed to get inside his home, a not sitting on top of it. As he dropped to the bed, his shoulder hit the TV remote and turned it on, the TV on the news. There was footage of a "Ghoul Extermination Expert" talking to a talkshow host about ghouls.

"Well, this situation with the Binge Eater just doesn't make sense," the exterminator said. "Normally, a ghoul isn't too active, a single body can satisfy them for a few months. However, this one is different. It eats far more than that."

"Let me just ask this, why can't ghouls survive off of human food?" the host asked.

"To put it simply, they simply can't derive nutrients from anything except human flesh," the exterminator explained. "Eating our food may actually be detrimental to them. It tastes disgusting to ghouls because their tongues work differently."

Kaneki stared at the screen before sprinting to the shopping back left beside his door. He ripped it open, pulling out various food containers. He ripped them open, shoving food into his mouth only to sprint to the bathroom, heaving it all into the toilet. He sprinted to his kitchen, then back. Then the pantry, and back. Finally, the only thing left was a hamburger that used to be his favorite, something Hide had probably gotten specifically to cheer him up. He stood, setting a pot on the stove and cooking it. Once it was ready, he cut a piece off and put it in his mouth. He felt his throat clenching instantly and felt tears run down his cheek before he bent forward, vomiting yet again.

 _It can't be,_ Kaneki thought as he fell to his knees.

He cleaned up the vomit, then walked to his bed, dropping onto it and pulling the blanket over himself. After a couple of hours, his phone vibrated. He let it go to voicemail before lifting it to his ear.

"Hey Kaneki, it's Hide, just thought I'd check on you, see how you're doing. Oh, Takatsuki what's-her-name is doing a signing at the book store. Give me a call and let me know when you're feeling better. Later."

The message ended and Kaneki slowly pushed himself up. He stared at the phone before sighing. He got dressed, pulling his shoes on and walking to the book store, only to stop, seeing on the sign that the signing was over. He sighed. Typical. The only thing that could cheer him up and he missed it. He turned, beginning to walk away, back across the street. As he did, however, his stomach rumbled and he stopped, staring at the people around him. His eyes darted from one to the next, at first words like "man," "woman," and "child" flashing through his mind. But then, the only thing that flashed through his mind was "meat."

Finally, he caught himself and bit down on his finger, hard. He stood there, forcing himself under control again before sprinting home, slamming the door and sprinting to the bathroom, staring at his reflection, and the black eye with a red iris in place of his usual left eye. He staggered out of the bathroom, grabbing a knife and falling to his knees.

 _I have to get it out! I have to get it out right now! It's her organs that are doing this to me! I have to get them out!_

He drove the knife down at his gut, hearing the impact resonate through the kitchen as it hit. He raised the knife's handle, looking at the spot where the blade had snapped off, then at the blade on the ground, then at his unmarked skin. He closed his eyes, sobbing for what felt like hours in dismay and fear of what he had become. then, he pushed himself up, leaving his house, wandering toward where he had been attacked by Rize. The memory of the attack was hazy at best, but he remembered something. Right before the girders had fallen, he had fought back. He could barely remember it, though. He remembered the pain, and then he remembered seeing something red. And Rize was bleeding.

He sighed as his stomach rumbled again. He needed food. Except there was nothing he could eat. No way to sustain himself. No, there was a way.

"Kill a person, take their flesh, and eat it!" he said to himself, before snapping to his senses, swallowing hard.

He was losing control. He had to fight to stay in control. To stay human. He staggered around another corner only to stop as he saw a familiar face. The blue-haired waitress Hide had been talking to at the coffee shop where he met Rize. She was pinned to the wall by a fat, balding man looking to be in his mid fifties with a lecherous grin on his face. Kaneki felt his stomach throb painfully as his eyes shot to the girl's exposed legs. Smooth, soft, slim waist. Just the right amount of fat. Probably would taste amazing. He bit his tongue, forcing himself under control as the man spoke.

"Hey there pretty girl, you're showing an awful lot of leg," the man sneered. "You better come with me. Wouldn't want anyone to take advantage of a helpless little girl all alone."

She shrunk back from him as he leaned closer and Kaneki felt himself gain marginal control again.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Kaneki spoke up, the man jerking back as if burned. "Get away from her!"

Two sets of eyes wheeled around on him, the man speaking first.

"Who the hell are you!?" His eyes narrowed for a moment before widening, fear filling them, though his voice managed to sound angrier as he stepped toward Kaneki. "Get the fuck out of here you goddamn monster!"

Kaneki blinked in confusion just before the girl moved, almost too fast to see, her hand flattening like a blade before splitting the man's head completely. The body dropped and the girl sighed.

"Dammit, I killed him, and I'm not even really hungry," the girl sighed, kneeling down and lifting an arm before slamming her other hand into it, breaking it completely off just below the elbow and holding it out. "Here. You're hungry, right?"

"Y-You're...you're a..." Kaneki stared at her, eyes wide with fright.

"Whoa, only one of your eyes is red, cool," she said before her face grew irritated. "Well, are you going to eat this or not?"

She stepped forward but as she did, Kaneki's terror overrode any sense or train of thought, making him spin and sprint away, fast. He tripped over several trashcans and piles of garbage before slowing to a stop, sniffing. He could smell something. It was coming from up ahead. It smelled delicious. Sweet. It reminded him of the food his mother used to cook for him.

He sprinted toward it, the prospect of having something to eat completely wiping any thoughts of the ghoul behind him out of his mind. Then, he slowed to a stop as he found the source of the smell, the corpse of a man with a dark haired male ghoul kneeling over it, eating. Kaneki fell to his knees, the ghoul's head snapping around.

"Oh, you're a ghoul, aren't you?" the ghoul asked. "What's wrong. Are you alright? Don't cry. My It's okay. I'm Kazuo. I haven't eaten in a while, so I'm afraid I can't share much too much with you," he ripped a chunk of flesh out of the body, "but here you can have some-"

He was cut off by a foot touching the back of his head then shoving so hard that his head all but exploded off of his shoulders, his blood splattering over Kaneki's face.

"Good riddance," the newcomer ghoul said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "You should know better than to trespass on my feeding grounds." He stopped as he noticed Kaneki for the first time, beginning to walk over to him. "I've never seen you before. Whoa, how come only one of your eyes is red? That looks pretty nasty." Then, he grabbed Kaneki by the throat, slamming him into the wall. "Did you think you could hunt for food on my feeding grounds, and get away with it?"

"No!" Kaneki choked out, barely able to breath and unable to break the ghoul's grip. "I was...just passing through! I swear!"

"You think I believe that?" the ghoul asked. "Imagine this, your girlfriend is lying naked on the ground. A guy standing over her with his pants around his ankles says, 'I didn't do it, I swear I was just passing by.' That's basically the same as what you're telling me right now. If someone did that to my girl, I'd kill him!" He began to squeeze tighter, choking the air from Kaneki's lungs, cutting his air supply off entirely. "So that's what I'm going to do to you. If you trespass on my territory you die."

Kaneki had stopped listening by then. All he could hear was his heart pounding in his ears, and the failed attempts by his diaphragm to pull in fresh air. He needed to get away. He needed to escape. But he couldn't. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, seeing the man looking away, toward the same girl that Kaneki had just watched split a man's head with her hand. They seemed to be talking. Kaneki had a chance. Only one. He tried to swing his foot but his body failed to respond. Fear began to fill him as his vision began to darken. Then, suddenly, pain flared in his back and suddenly there was a blue flaming wing on his right side reaching around his body and sticking into the man's shoulder. The man looked down at it in surprise before dropping Kaneki, the wing vanishing instantly. As blood rushed to Kaneki's head, his vision faded to black, returning after what felt like seconds to see the male ghoul vanishing around a corner deeper into the alleyway, a hand held to his bloody shoulder. The girl was kneeling beside the body, watching Kaneki carefully.

"Here," she said, holding out the hand she seemed to have kept from earlier.

One of Kaneki's hands reached out toward it but he caught it with the other, pulling it back.

"You're not eating?" she asked. "Alright, then answer me this. You're the guy who was with Rize, right? Why didn't she eat you?"

Kaneki didn't respond, too busy struggling to keep his hand down.

"Okay, how did you go from human to ghoul?" she asked.

"I...don't know!" he sobbed, arm finally stopping trying to take the hand. "I was human! I met a girl who was beautiful and seemed to like me back! Then one day, as I'm walking her home, she bites me and starts stabbing me with a bunch of tentacles coming out of her back! The next thing I know, I think I had tentacles too, and I was stabbing her back! Then a bunch of girders fell on us, and I woke up in the hospital like this! Suddenly I couldn't eat anything, and part of me desperately wants to eat that!"

Tears were streaming down his face and the girl stared at him in silence.

"Listen," the girl said, tossing the hand aside. "Thank you for stepping in before. Obviously is was unnecessary, but I appreciate what you were trying to do. So I'll make it up to you. I'll help you."

"You will?" he asked.

"Yes," she nodded, kneeling over the body and ripping the heart out. "Since you don't have the nerve to eat on your own, I'll give you a hand!"

In the span of time it took Kaneki to process her words, and for his eyes to widen, she had lunged across the space between them, shoving the heart into his mouth hole. Before he could stop himself, he had bitten some off, swallowing it whole. Then, he spat the rest out, shoving his fingers into his mouth to make himself vomit unsuccessfully.

"How could you do that to me!?" He shouted. "I thought you were going to help!"

"I did," she said. "You were starving yourself to death because you're too much of a pussy to eat. So, I made the decision for you. You're welcome."

"No!" he said. "I'm not thanking you! I won't eat another person! I'm not a monster!"

Her reaction was instantly. First, a kick to the gut. Then, his head was slammed into the wall. Several punches and a knee to the groin later, he was kneeling on the ground, coughing up blood as the injuries she had given him healed themselves instantly.

"If I'm a monster, what does that make you?" she asked.

"I don't know!" he sobbed. "I don't know what I am anymore!"

"I suppose that would be rough," she sighed. "But I can't really say I pity you. You see, I've always wondered why humans like cake. It tastes so disgusting to me that it makes me want to puke." She knelt down to inspect the head of the ghoul who had offered to share the corpse. "But, you guys sure seem to enjoy eating it. It must have been nice to live such a peaceful life. One where you didn't have to live in fear of the CCG or other ghouls. You think your life sucks now? Give me a break. This life is all I've ever known so how do you think that makes me feel? Well buddy? Answer me!" she hurled the head at him, hitting it against his own head before he caught it, shouting in fear and tossing it away.

She grabbed him by the hair, throwing him down the alleyway before kicking him into the wall.

"You're not a ghoul," she said, sniffing. "But you're obviously not human either. A halfbreed like you isn't going to last five seconds out here. but if you want to be human so badly, go ahead and starve. But I'll warn you, starvation is utter hell for a ghoul."

"That's enough Touka," a voice behind her said, both turning to look just as an older man with combed back grey hair and a kind smile stepped into view.

He wore a clean white button-up shirt, a vest with black in the back and grey in the front with thin vertical white stripes, and a black tie in the front shaped like a four-pointed star with thin arms and a gold button in the center. Kaneki recognized him as the owner of the coffee shop where Touka worked. Anteiku, if he remembered correctly.

"This must be hard on you," the man said, smiling at Kaneki. "Please come with me young man."

"Are you gonna take him in?" Touka demanded.

"Of course I am," the man said. "Remember, it's our policy to help our fellow ghouls in their time of need."

He turned, walking away and Touka sighed, following, glaring back at Kaneki for a moment before he also followed.

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	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

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 _ **A.N.: I would like suggestions for special features of Kaneki's Kagane, such as blades, special changes in form, abilities unique to his Kagane. I haven't read hardly any of the manga, and haven't made it far in the anime, so I don't really know much about them. Thank you.**_

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Slip

Kaneki walked down the street in silence, his left eye hidden behind his eyepatch. He didn't like wearing it. He hated the loss in depth perception that came with having one eye covered, and he hated having to worry about what would happen if the eyepatch came off. But until he learned to control his eye turning red, he needed it. Finally he reached school, receiving a text from Hide asking if he needed his Asian History notes. He shut the phone off, putting it in his pocket just before Hide leapt onto his back, spinning him around before turning him toward himself and berating him for leaving him alone. Kaneki had a sense of deja vu from when they were children, but ignored it.

"What's with the eyepatch?" Hide asked. "Is it some new trend I'm not hip to?"

"It's...from the accident," Kaneki lied, Hide going silent instantly.

"I...I'm sorry man," Hide said. "I didn't mean..."

"It's alright," Kaneki said. "So, about those Asian History notes, can I get them?"

"Sure man," Hide nodded, turning and walking away toward his room, Kaneki following. "I gotta go pick up some materials from Nishio. He's an upperclassman, kinda snarky but he's okay. you wanna come with me?"

"Yeah sure," Kaneki agreed.

They walked in silence for a time before Hide spoke again. "Hey Kaneki, I don't mean to pry but are you eating right? You're looking a little pale."

Kaneki froze, staring at his friend. He sometimes forgot just how observant Hide could be.

"You're gonna have to eat better if you want to stay healthy," Hide said.

"Uh, right. Okay."

They continued in silence from there. Once they were in the building, Hide began to explain Nishio, describing him as dark and mysterious. Then, he slid the door open, shouting a greeting only for a clearly feminine shriek to greet him. A moment later, an embarrassed and crying ginger sprinted past and down the hallway, clothed but holding her jacket closed.

"You always barge into places without knocking Nagachika?" a voice that Kaneki recognized almost instantly asked.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't thinking," Hide said, stepping out of the way, Kaneki slowly turning to face the same ghoul that had tried to kill him the day before.

"Yeah no kidding," Nishiki said, adjusting his glasses. "You know nothing pisses me off more than somebody disrespecting my territory."

"So, anyway, this is my friend Kaneki I was telling you about before," Hide said as Nishiki turned around, freezing as he stared at Kaneki in recognition.

"Nishiki Nishio," Nishiki said, sounding polite enough, waking over to Kaneki, shaking his hand and moving to stand behind him. "I'm a second year with the school of pharmacy." His voice dropped almost to a hiss. "It's nice to meet you, Kaneki."

He turned to Hide, asking what Hide needed as Kaneki stood frozen on the spot, fear gripping him. He fought it back, trying to avoid anything ghoul related happening. When he began to process the world around him again, Nishiki was at a bookshelf off to the side.

"You wanted last year's numbers, right?" Nishiki asked.

"Yeah but I'm only interested in the retail data," Hide said, also searching through the room off to the other side.

"Wish I could remember where I put it," Nishiki said, sitting in his computer chair again before putting a hand to his head. "Oh wait, it's probably at home."

"Aw, seriously?" Hide groaned.

"I don't live too far," Nishiki said. "If you want we can walk over there right now."

"Walk over where, to your house?" Hide asked.

"That okay?" Nishiki asked.

"I need that data," Hide sighed, looking to Kaneki. "I'm sorry buddy. I hate to ditch you but it looks like we'll have to just have to hang out some other time?"

An image of Nishiki kicking a ghoul's head off of his shoulders flashed through Kaneki's head.

"I-I could come too, i-if that's okay," Kaneki said, looking to Nishiki nervously.

Nishiki's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly before he turned back to the computer with a sigh. "Yeah sure that's fine. It's not like I'm gonna let him in or anything."

"Totally understandable," Hide said, giving Kaneki a confused look just as Nishiki's phone began to ring.

"But I gotta work this out before I go," Nishiki sighed, answering.

"You okay?" Hide asked.

"Fine," Kaneki nodded, mind replaying his last encounter with Nishiki, and then his conversation with Touka.

Looking back on it, he supposed to say he handled that poorly was probably an understatement. Particularly a few of his choice words. He hardly realized they had left until Nishiki handed him a fried snack, though he was too distracted by watching Nishiki eat his own to even open it. Beside him, Hide was also chowing down, looking to Kaneki.

"Hey, you gonna eat it?" Hide asked.

"Uh, yeah, later," Kaneki said, shoving the object in his bag before he was forced to throw it up.

He looked back at Nishiki who was eating the food as though it were perfectly normal to him. Finally they continued walking, getting underneath an overpass before Nishiki turned to look back at him, smirking. Then, before Hide even had a chance to see what happened, Nishiki spun, kicking him and sending him flying down the dark alleyway beside them, Hide vanishing into the shadows. Then, Nishiki turned back to Kaneki.

"I don't think that he needs to see this," Nishiki smirked, walking toward Kaneki.

"Hide!" Kaneki shouted, turning back to Nishiki, expression somewhere between anger and fear.

"I thought I was the only ghoul on campus, I guess not," Nishiki said, walking around Kaneki. "Whoa, you reek buddy. You smell just like a female ghoul!" He grabbed him by the throat, slamming him into a wall and glaring at him. "You think I don't know your plan? You were gonna try to eat Nagachika weren't you? There's nothing like the sense of power you get from turning on someone who trusts you whole-heartedly, don't you just love the look of anguish that crosses their face when they finally give up hope?" He squeezed harder. "Well don't you Kaneki?"

Kaneki grit his teeth, blood leaking between them. "You. You're a monster! I'm not like you!"

"Oh yeah?" Nishiki asked, letting go of him before punching hi fist completely through his abdomen.

Kaneki coughed, blood splattering across the ground before Nishiki turned, hurling him down the alleyway. He looked up, vision swimming as he saw nishiki stomp on Hide's head. He knew Nishiki was talking, however, as was seemingly becoming common, his brain failed to register what he was saying. Only that he was stomping on his head repeatedly.

"Stop it," Kaneki wheezed finally, managing to get into a sitting position against the wall. "Hide is not food, get your foot off of him!"

"Oh really?" Nishiki smirked, walking back toward him. "Then why don't you release your Kagane again and we'll see if you can make me?" He knelt, flicking Kaneki's eyepatch off, exposing his now red eye. "That is, if you even know how."

Kaneki tried to move but pain shot through his body. Nishiki snorted in amusement, kicking him into the wall again before walking back to Hide, a glowing blue tail with a forked end appearing and wrapping around his right leg as he lifted it.

"Say goodbye to your friend!" Nishiki grinned.

Desperation flooded Kaneki and pain blossomed in the small of his back. Just as it did, Nishiki spun, ducking under the swipe of one of Kaneki's three tentacles, sprinting forward. Then, all three shot forward again. For a moment, Nishiki looked to be about to avoid them until the middle one, which was shooting at him from above, bent as it stabbed, driving itself through his gut, the other two a half second behind it. Then, they threw him into the air, beginning to rapidly stab into his gut and retract like three demonic jackhammers.

"Stop or you'll kill me!" Nishiki managed to shout in the middle of his screams of agony.

Blood splattered over everything before finally, Kaneki's tentacles caught Nishiki, swinging him up to the road above them and slamming his head between several steel rods, tearing the flesh off of his cheeks.

"That's...Rize's kagane," Nishiki groaned. "How can that be?"

Kaneki ignored him, staring at Hide, now coated in Nishiki's blood as well as his own. Kaneki's tentacles swayed behind him as he stared. His stomach rumbled loudly. Kaneki's mind grew blank. Blood. Flesh. Food. Hide looked delicious. And there was nothing to stop Kaneki from eating him. He knelt, tentacles falling still as Kaneki opened his mouth, growling hungrily as he prepared to chow down.

"Looks like you're becoming more like us, halfbreed," a voice said in front of him. "You're so hungry that you're about to eat the guy you just fought to protect."

He looked up, seeing Touka standing just behind Hide. "Move it!"

"I don't give a crap about your friend, go ahead and kill him if you want," Touka said. "But I'm warning you. You're gonna be sorry if you gobble him up. You'll be left with nothing but a sea of blood, entrails, and regret. Do you think you could live with that guilt, knowing that you killed your best friend?"

Kaneki's tentacles turned to aim at her, saliva beginning to run down his chin. "Don't interfere with my meal!"

"I didn't want it to come to this," Touka sighed, loosening the bow tie on her school uniform. "I'll try to go easy on you Kaneki, but I can't promise anything!"

Kaneki shot his tentacles at her and she ducked, spinning under them, a flaming red wing on her left side. Then, her hand shot out toward him.

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	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

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New Job

Kaneki sat up, gasping for breath and holding a hand over his left eye. After a moment, he looked around slowly. He didn't recognize the room he was in. He was on a couch, and the room was decorated simply yet cozily.

"Ah, you're awake," a kind voice said from behind Kaneki, making him turn.

Behind him, standing in the doorway, was the owner of Anteiku, Yoshimura. Kaneki stared at him as his memories began to return to him from before he passed out. His eyes widened as he looked around, fear beginning to blossom as he realized Hide was nowhere around him.

"Where's Hide?" Kaneki asked.

"Don't worry, he's fine," Yoshimura said. "Touka brought you both back to Anteiku after she found you."

Kaneki nodded, remembering attacking her. He swallowed, suddenly becoming aware of a sweet taste in his mouth. Except that the only thing that tasted sweet to him would be human flesh. He reached a trembling hand to his mouth, feeling inside his mouth and pooling the fingers back out, a thin film of blood on the finger tips, though he knew it wasn't his.

"This blood," Kaneki breathed. "Did I..."

"There is only one way to satisfy the hunger of a ghoul," Yoshimura said seriously, his normally squinted eyes opening slightly, revealing them to be red. "In the state you were in, you were out of control with hunger, and you had lost your ability to recognize a threat from an ally. There was only one way to save you from yourself."

Kaneki nodded slowly, swallowing hard. "Is Hide okay?"

Yoshimura motioned for him to follow and he did as instructed. They left the room to a small hallway, walking to a closed door a ways along the hallway, which Yoshimura opened to reveal Hide, peacefully sleeping in a bed, some bandages wrapped around his head.

"He's going to be just fine," Yoshimura said. "He simply needs to rest."

Kaneki sighed in relief, nodding. "Thank you sir. Thank you so much."

"You're very welcome," Yoshimura smiled. "I have a proposition for you, if you would hear it."

"Okay," Kaneki nodded.

"Why don't you come to work here at Anteiku," Yoshimura said.

"You would have a half-breed like me work here?" Kaneki asked, tears beginning to roll down his cheeks. "I'm not a ghoul, but I'm clearly not a human either. I don't belong anywhere. I'm alone. I can't be friends with Hide anymore because if I lose control I'll kill him. But I can't live as a ghoul because I can't stand the thought of killing and eating someone."

"You're mistaken," Yoshimura said, Kaneki staring at him in confusion. "You are both a ghoul, and a human. You alone have a place in both worlds. And one day, you may even be able to teach us to live together in peace. Work at Anteiku. We can teach you to live as a ghoul so that you can return to your life as a human as much as you can. And while we're at it, I can teach you to make coffee. What do you say?"

"Well...I've never made coffee before," Kaneki said, wiping his eyes and smiling. "Okay. I'll do it."

Yoshimura smiled and nodded, leading him down to the shop. It was closed at the moment, so it was empty. Yoshimura got out a coffee pot and some coffee beans, handing them to Kaneki, telling him how to make coffee, Kaneki doing as instructed. Finally, Kaneki raised the cup to his lips and took a sip, grimacing.

"It's nowhere near as good as yours," Kaneki said, staring at the cup. "Sir, have you ever heard of a half ghoul before?"

"I have," he nodded. "It's incredibly rare, but once in a while, a ghoul and a human will fall in love with each other. Usually, such a union results in a stillbirth. However, in incredibly rare cases, the child will beat the odds, and is born alive. From what I know, the child has all of the attributes of a ghoul, except that only one of their eyes is red, much like you."

"Is that the only way to make a ghoul?" Kaneki asked. "What if someone had the organs of a ghoul transplanted into them? Would that make someone a ghoul? Is that what happened to me? After the accident?"

"Do you remember the attack?" Yoshimura asked.

"Barely," Kaneki said. "It's blurry. It all happened so fast. I could swear I remember having tentacles and attacking Rize with them, but that's impossible. Right? I mean...I was human."

"I wonder about the surgery idea, but you had no organs transplanted," Yoshimura said. "In fact, from what I've heard from the news, the only injuries you sustained were a few broken bones. As to how you became a half ghoul, you were, in fact, already one before Rize attacked. I didn't realize it until after Touka told me about your two fights with Nishiki, but it turns out that I actually knew your father. He was a ghoul."

"What?" Kaneki gaped. "What...what happened to him?"

"That's a story for another time," Yoshimura said. "For now, head on home, and be here in time for work tomorrow."

Kaneki nodded, turning to leave.

"Oh, before you go, I have something for you," Yoshimura said, Kaneki turning back to him as Yoshimura held up a container filled with sugar cubes, except that they were brown.

"What are those?" Kaneki asked. "Sugar cubes?"

"On the outside," Yoshimura nodded. "But inside they're a bit special. Put them in your coffee and they should help curb your hunger."

"Thank you so much!" Kaneki smiled. "What are they made of?"

"It's better that you don't know," Yoshimura said. "And remember. These won't be enough for you to live off of. In the end, you're still going to have to eat eventually, but these will help."

Kaneki nodded, accepting the sugar cubes and thanking him before heading home. The next day, he got to work early to find Touka was already there, cleaning everything and setting out coffee ingredients, coffee pots, cups, and napkins. There were a couple of bandages on her neck, though her uniform mostly hid them.

"Your uniform is there," Touka said, pointing at a uniform set out on a table. "Go change and get back out here so I can teach you how to do the job."

He quickly grabbed the clothes, changing in the bathroom and putting his own clothes in his bag, leaving it under the counter. For the next few minutes, Touka walked him through the basics of the job: taking orders, making cappuccinos, ringing customers orders up in the cash register. Finally, she finished, returning to setting things out. Kaneki glanced at the bandages, guilt filling his chest.

"A-Are you okay?" Kaneki finally asked.

"What, you think I'm so weak that some pathetic, starving half-breed like you could hurt me?" Touka snapped, glaring at him.

"N-No!" Kaneki stammered, taken aback. "I-I didn't mean that. I just meant...I'm sorry. For attacking you, and for making it sound like I thought you were weak. Also...thank you." He bowed low, feeling his eyes water as she stared at him in surprise. "Thank you so much! I don't know what I would have done if I had killed Hide. Thank you for stopping me! And thank you for saving me from my hunger! I promise you I'll find a way to repay you!"

"I-Idiot!" Touka stammered, turning back to the dishes she was washing. "I didn't stop you because I care about your friend. It's Anteiku's policy to help ghouls in need. The manager would have been mad if I didn't help you."

"I see," Kaneki said, staring at the floor. "Still though, thank you."

Touka remained silent so Kaneki picked up a broom, beginning to sweep the floor. After a little while, customers began to arrive, a few at a time, Touka and Kaneki taking their orders and getting them their food and drinks. As they did, Kaneki glanced at Touka every so often. At some point during the day, she managed to remove the bandages from her neck without him noticing, not even a mark left behind. Finally, Hide walked in, all but running over to Kaneki and grabbing him in a hug. Once he put him down, he inspected his uniform.

"Huh," Hide said. "You know, when you said you started working here, I didn't think the uniform would look quite so good on you."

"I take it you're feeling better," Kaneki said.

"Yup!" Hide grinned. "But I'm actually not here for you. I'm here to thank Touka."

"Thank her?" Kaneki asked, nervousness creeping into him.

Had he been awake? Did he know what had happened?

"Yeah," Hide said. "Don't you remember? She's the one that found us after the accident."

"Oh, right," Kaneki nodded.

"Man you really don't remember do you?" Hide asked. "Did you get checked for a concussion?"

"I'm fine," Kaneki said.

"Well whatever," Hide sighed. "Anyway, I guess Nishio was hurt pretty bad. He's in the hospital somewhere, apparently."

Kaneki nodded silently. "If you're going to be here anyway, you should probably order something."

"Okay, how about a cappuccino," Hide said.

Kaneki nodded, leaving and making him one, bringing it back. Once finished, Hide left and Kaneki returned to the counter, Touka turning to him.

"Be careful around your friend," Touka said. "If the day ever comes when he finds out that any of us at Anteiku is a ghoul, I'll kill him."

And with that, she walked away, leaving a stunned Kaneki to stare at the wall. After a couple of hours, the cafe began to empty as it began to rain. After a bit, the door opened and both Kaneki and Touka turned, greeting the pair that had walked in, a mother and daughter. Touka quickly rushed over, ordering Kaneki to grab them towels to dry off with. Kaneki did as ordered and handed the towels to them.

"What's going on?" Kaneki asked, able to clearly see that something was wrong. "Why would you walk here in the rain?"

"Shut up idiot!" Touka snapped as the pair finished drying as much as they were going to for the time being. "The Manager is upstairs waiting for you."

"Thank you Touka," the mother smiled. "It was nice to meet you Kaneki."

And with that, she and her daughter went upstairs. Kaneki turned to Touka just as she spoke.

"Has the Manager warned you about box carriers yet?" Touka asked.

"Box carriers?" Kaneki asked.

"The guys in suits with the attache cases?" Touka asked, Kaneki shaking his head. "They're in the CCG, they're Ghoul Investigators. If they ever show up here, you need to warn the manager quickly but secretly. We can't tip them off that there's anything out of the ordinary."

Kaneki nodded. The rest of the day was relatively quiet. Once the cafe was closed, Kaneki left, heading home. The next day, he found that Touka was gone, but there were two other people in her place. One was a woman with black hair reaching down her back. The other was a man with light brown hair combed backward but bunched up almost into a ball in front.

"Hello, you must be Kaneki," the girl said. "I'm Kaya Irimi."

"And I'm Enji Koma," the man said. "It's nice to meet you."

Kaneki shook both of their hands before getting to work getting the shop ready. The day was fairly uneventful, until nearly closing.

"Kaneki, can you come here for a moment?" Yoshimura asked as he stepped into the nearly empty shop.

Kaneki nodded, walking over to him obediently.

"Normally, I was wondering if you could go into town with Yomo and pick up some food supplies," Yoshimura said, Kaneki freezing.

Food? As in human food? Or did he mean ghoul food? Kaneki knew he couldn't kill anyone, so why would he be asked to go?

"Sir, I can't-"

"Don't worry," Yoshimura interrupted. "You don't have to hurt anything."

"I don't?" Kaneki asked. "Then how..."

"You'll understand if you go," Yoshimura said.

"Okay," Kaneki decided. "I'll do it."

"Thank you," Yoshimura smiled. "Yomo will be waiting for you out back after work. Feel free to ask him any questions you have."

Kaneki nodded and Yoshimura returned to the second floor, leaving Kaneki to finish out the day. Once his shift was done, he headed out back, stepping out into a darkened back alley, finding a tall, broad-shouldered man with chin-length white hair and a black trench coat waiting silently beside a black car.

"You must be Yomo," Kaneki said, trying not to be intimidated by the man, though failing badly.

"Yes," Yomo said. "Get in."

Kaneki swallowed before getting in the passenger's seat, Yomo getting in as well, leaving. Kaneki glanced at Yomo but remained silent for a while. "So...how exactly do we get food if we're not going to hurt people?"

Yomo remained silent, eyes not leaving the road. They continued on in silent as they left town, taking a road that had a cliff on the left side. Finally, they came to a stop, sitting behind a white car parked on the side of the road. Yomo got out and Kaneki followed suit, walking over to the railing, Yomo looking down.

"What are we doing here?" Kaneki asked.

"A lot of people come here to commit suicide," Yomo said as Kaneki leaned against the railing. "Don't lean there. You'll-"

Kaneki never heard the last word as the railing where he was leaning broke free and he fell. He shouted in fear, flipping and grabbing the cliff face only for his fingers to snap backward. He shouted in pain just before he felt the shift. For the first time, he knew what would happen before it did. A moment later, his tentacles drove themselves into the cliff face, stopping his fall about three feet from the ground. He dropped to the ground, staring at them before concentrating, the tentacles beginning to dissolve. He sighed in relief, looking at his hand just as all of the fingers suddenly snapped back into place with a series of loud cracks. He shouted in pain as they did about a second before Yomo landed beside him.

"Are you okay?" Yomo asked.

"Yeah," Kaneki nodded, looking around and seeing a dead body.

He flinched, but to his credit, he didn't scream like he might have before getting into a fight not once but three separate times with a ghoul and being near-fatally wounded twice. He swallowed hard as Yomo walked over, holding out a very large duffel bag.

"Pack him up," Yomo said, dropping the bag at his feet.

Kaneki stared at him in confusion and Yomo grumbled something under his breath.

"Fine, I'll do it myself," Yomo grumbled, taking the bag and returning to the body. "Just wait over there."

Kaneki backed away, watching as Yomo prayed for a moment before getting to work. After several minutes, he finished and picked the bag up, turning and walking away, Kaneki following quickly. After several more minutes, they reached a goat trail back up, reaching the top after about five minutes and getting back into the car. Yomo drove them back to Anteiku in silence and from there, Kaneki went home for the night.

* * *

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	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Masks

Kaneki looked around then at his watch. When Yoshimura had asked Touka to waste her off day taking him to someone named Uta in order to get a mask, Touka had told him to meet her at 1600. Now, he was still waiting at 1730.

"And you said for me to not be late," Kaneki sighed to himself.

"Are you ready?" Touka asked, stepping into view.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Kaneki said.

Touka turned, walking away silently, Kaneki sighing and following. They walked into the city, passing several places where Kaneki was almost certain he felt someone's eyes on him. Finally, they reached a door in a back alley with graffiti on the door beside it calling it the HySy ArtMask Studio. Touka pushed the door open, walking in and Kaneki closed the door behind them, following. As they walked, he looked around, seeing masks almost everywhere, everything from gas masks, to clown masks, bird masks, monkey masks, dog masks, anything he could think of.

"Uta! Uta? Are you here Uta?" Touka shouted, walking deeper into the shop to look for the owner.

Kaneki looked around, seeing one stand covered by a sheet and cocking his head to the side. He walked over to it, reaching up and pulling the sheet off, only to jump back, shouting in surprise as the man under it stared at him with his glowing red eyes.

"Boo," the man said, his voice surprisingly soft, contrary to what the tattoos and piercings would suggest.

"Uta what the hell are you doing?" Touka asked.

"I was trying to scare him," Uta explained.

"That's not hard," Touka said. "Anyway, this is Kaneki. He needs to get a mask made."

"Oh, I see," Uta nodded. "Okay. Sit here so I can take your measurements."

Kaneki nodded, sitting on the stool Uta had just vacated. Uta pulled out a measuring tape, beginning to measure Kaneki's head. As he did, Kaneki heard him sniff him from behind.

"Your scent is unusual," Uta said. "You kind of smell human. So Touka, I heard there were some ghoul investigators in the twentieth ward. Is that true?"

"That's what Yomo said," Touka said.

"Ah yes," Uta nodded. "Renji was always good at sniffing them out. How is he?"

"He's okay," Touka said, walking away to inspect the masks around the room.

"That's good," Uta mused. "So, Kaneki, do you have any allergies? Specifically to rubber or metal?"

"Not that I know of," Kaneki said as Uta poked and prodded at different parts of his head.

"Do you want a full-faced mask or a half-faced one?" Uta asked.

"Uh, that's up to you," Kaneki said.

"Hm, the eyepatch is kind of cute," Uta said. "Do you want to include it in the mask?"

"Oh, actually, I only wear this because whenever I get hungry my eye turns red and I can't control it," Kaneki said, lifting the eyepatch out of the way to show him he still had his eye.

"Oh, so when you're full it's okay?" Uta asked before holding up an eyeball. "Do you want this as a snack?"

"Uh, no, that's okay," Kaneki said, Uta shrugging and taking a bite out of the optic nerve hanging from the back.

"Alright, next question," Uta asked. "Do you have a lover?"

"H-Huh?" Kaneki stammered. "N-No I've never..."

"Oh, so you're the type that is attracted to younger girls," Uta guessed. "Or is it that you prefer older women?"

"N-No, it's not that," Kaneki stammered, face growing redder by the second.

"Oh?" Uta asked. "Well what about Touka then? Do you find her attractive?"

Kaneki's face instantly turned crimson. "W-Well...I-I don't know. I've never really thought about it."

"I see," Uta nodded. "It always amazes me how hard a worker she is."

"What do you mean?" Kaneki asked.

"Well, for one example, I sometimes have human customers come in here," Uta said. "Whenever I do, my pulse races and I can barely contain my excitement. I'm sure for those at Anteiku it's the same. But Touka keeps her cool. And not just at work. Whenever she's at school sh would have to be incredibly careful as well. If anyone found out she was a ghoul, she would be in grave danger."

"I see," Kaneki said, staring at the floor before looking back up at Uta. "Um, why are you asking such personal questions?"

"The better I know you, the better the mask will turn out," Uta said simply.

Kaneki nodded as Uta closed his sketch pad, standing.

"All done," Uta said. "Thank you for coming in Touka. It was very nice meeting you Kaneki."

"Uh, you too," Kaneki said.

"Oh you don't have to lie for me," Uta beamed at him before walking out of the room.

"Let's go," Touka said.

Kaneki nodded, following her out of the shop and to a subway. They got on, finding it almost completely empty. As they rode, Uta's words about Touka continued to play through his head. As well as the fact that almost everything scared him. To the point that he couldn't even help Yomo when all he had to do was put a dead body in a bag. He found his mind drifting to Ryoko and Hinami, who had been visiting Anteiku frequently for the last few days.

"Touka," Kaneki said, Touka glaring at him. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Touka asked.

"Being useless," Kaneki said. "I haven't been good for anything since you all took me in. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Touka sighed. "You're still struggling to adjust to being a ghoul."

"That doesn't justify it," Kaneki said. "What was the situation with Hinami and her mother? I want to help but I can't if I don't know anything."

Touka sighed, turning toward him and leaning back against the wall of the train. "She's been away from her father for a while now, and she's been more closed off ever since."

"Why can't she go see him?" Kaneki asked.

"Because of the Doves," Touka said. "The ghoul investigators. They're watching her father, so if she went to see him, she'd be in danger too."

"I see," Kaneki nodded. "That makes sense. So...why did I need to have a mask made?"

"WHAT!?" Touka shouted. "They made you go and they didn't even explain why!? Damn that old man!"

Kaneki resisted the urge to shrink back from her. After a moment, she sighed, shaking her head.

"Ghoul Investigators hunt us for the simple goal of killing us," Touka said. "If they see your face and you don't finish them off, it won't matter where you go, or how well you hide. They'll find you and kill you. It's why I said I'd kill your friend Hide if he ever finds out you're a ghoul. Because if he turns you in, all of us at Anteiku would be in danger."

"So, the mask is so that the ghoul investigators won't recognize me if I meet them," Kaneki summarized.

"Yes," Touka nodded. "And if you _do_ meet them, with or without your mask, run. Don't fight them, don't try to outsmart them. Just cut and run. Make sure you lose them before returning to Anteiku, though."

"Okay," Kaneki nodded.

Touka nodded as well and both fell silent, remaining so until they reached their stop, getting out and both going home for the night. The next day, the shop was mostly empty. It had been slow for a while, but they were starting to run out of coffee beans.

"Hey Kaneki," Koma spoke up, Kaneki turning to him. "Can you head upstairs and get some coffee beans for me? They have a red label."

"Sure," Kaneki nodded.

He headed upstairs but as he was walking down the hallway, he reached an open door, a clicking sound coming from inside. He stopped, staring at it. He hadn't thought that anyone was there. He knew Ryoko had left earlier, he had thought Hinami went with her. He peeked inside and froze, seeing Hinami about to take a bite out of a chunk of flesh. Both froze, staring at each other for several seconds before both shouted in surprise, Kaneki staggering backward.

"I-I'm s-sorry!" Kaneki stammered, leaving and closing the door behind him.

He quickly went to the supply closet and grabbed the coffee beans, returning to Koma.

"Thank you Kaneki," Koma smiled. "By the way, Hinami's in the room upstairs, so try not to go in there."

"You should probably let me know that ahead of time next time," Kaneki sighed.

"Uh-oh," Koma said. "Did you see her eating?"

Kaneki nodded.

"Oh boy," Koma sighed beginning to pour a cup of coffee. "Most ghouls like to keep that private. Girls especially." He turned holding out the cup of coffee. "Here, take this to her as an apology."

Kaneki nodded, taking the cup and walking back upstairs to Hinami's door, knocking. "Hinami? May I come in?"

"Okay," she replied.

He opened the door, thankful for the fact that she had finished eating and cleaned up. She was sitting in the same spot now, but now had a book in her hands. Kaneki walked over, setting the coffee cup in front of her.

"I'm so sorry for earlier," Kaneki said, bowing. "I didn't mean to walk in on you. I hadn't realized anyone was here. Please take this as an apology."

He turned to walk away just as she spoke up.

"I'm sorry for being rude, but what exactly are you?" Hinami asked. "I'd be able to tell from a distance if you were a ghoul. But you don't seem like a human either.

Kaneki turned back toward her before staring at the floor. "I...I'm not really sure anymore. I used to be human, or at least, I thought I was. I could eat human food, I didn't see ghouls everywhere. But then, one day I was attacked by a ghoul, and suddenly I had tentacles and couldn't eat human food anymore. For a bit, I thought maybe I had had a ghoul's organs transplanted into me, but I didn't. I guess the easiest answer would be that I'm a little of both." He glanced at the book she had been reading and his eyes lit up as he saw a chance to get away from the less than pleasant topic. "Hey, is that Monochrome Rainbows?"

"Yeah," Hinami nodded.

"You read Sen Takatsuki's books?" Kaneki asked, highly impressed, given the usually difficult words in her books. "That's got to be really difficult. Although, I suppose since that one's just a bunch of short stories it's probably easier than the others. Still though, that's really impressive Hinami."

Hinami smiled. "Thank you."

Suddenly, a thought seemed to occur to her because she opened the book, flipping through it until she reached a marked page, scanning it before pointing to a word.

"What's this word?" Hinami asked.

"Hm?" Kaneki looked before smiling. "Oh, that's Hydrangea."

"Hydrangea?" Hinami asked. "Like the flower?"

"That's right," Kaneki nodded.

Hinami pulled out a small note book, writing the word down and what it was. Then, she began to flip through the book, pointing out several more words, which Kaneki explained for her, her smile growing each time.

"Do you always take notes when you read?" Kaneki asked.

"Well...I can't go to school, so I try to write down words I learn so I remember them."

"That a great idea," Kaneki smiled before a thought occurred to him. "If you want, whenever you're here, I could teach you."

"Okay!" Hinami beamed.

Just then the door opened and Ryoko and Yoshimura both walked in.

"Hinami, I'm sorry to keep you waiting," Ryoko smiled.

"Mama!" Hinami cheered, running across the room to hug her. "Kaneki was teaching me new words!"

"Oh really," Ryoko smiled. "Thank you Kaneki."

"It's no problem," Kaneki smiled. "It was a lot of fun."

Yoshimura walked over to the window, peeking between the shudders and humming thoughtfully. "It looks like it's going to rain. I'll lend you an umbrella."

"Thank you," Ryoko smiled.

"Thank you Kaneki!" Hinami smiled, hugging him.

"You're welcome Hinami," Kaneki smiled. "See you next time."

She smiled and returned to her mother. Then, the four of them headed downstairs, Ryoko and Hinami leaving with an umbrella. Kaneki returned to his work, smiling as he did. Maybe he was wrong about ghouls. Maybe being a ghoul wasn't so bad. Maybe.

* * *

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	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Gourmet

Kaneki smiled as Hinami waved at him, also smiling. She and Ryoko sat down, ordering a drink just as the door opened.

"Welcome to Anteiku," Kaneki greeted, turning to the man that had walked in.

He wore a pristine white suit and had his blue hair neatly combed, most of his bangs kept long and combed to the left, while the rest were shorter and to the right. The moment Kaneki saw him, he froze, swallowing hard. This man was clearly not like their usual customer, and was also clearly not a good person.

"Tsukiyama," Touka snarled. "What are you doing here?"

"Long time no see, mon chéri," the man, Tsukiyama, greeted Touka.

"What is it?" Touka growled, returning to wiping down the counter.

"Oh come now, I'm a customer," Tsukiyama said. "Then again, I can't expect too much from someone with your charms."

"You're lucky lucky I'm at work right now," Touka snarled just as Tsukiyama seemed to notice Kaneki for the first time.

"Who's this morsel?" Tsukiyama asked. "You're new around here. What's your name?"

"Um, I'm Kaneki," Kaneki said.

"Oh, Kaneki," Tsukiyama said, practically dancing over to Kaneki, beginning to circle him, even smelling him off to one side. "Se magnifique."

"Leave him alone," Touka warned. "Stop soliciting and take your skeevy sideshow somewhere else."

"You really have no sense of tact, my dear," Tsukiyama said, resting a hand on Kaneki's shoulder. "I look forward to trying your coffee. Give Yoshimura my best."

"Uh, sure," Kaneki stammered as Tsukiyama walked away.

However, Tsukiyama stopped at the door. "See you soon."

Then, he was gone.

"Who was that?" Kaneki asked.

"Stay away from him," Touka said. "He's dangerous."

Kaneki stared at her before nodding.

* * *

Kaneki sat down at the campus cafe and sipped at his coffee. Just as he did, someone sat across from him and he looked up, seeing none other than Tsukiyama himself. Leave it to a creepy guy like Tsukiyama to ruin his one off day.

"Hello again Kaneki," Tsukiyama greeted. "It's so good to see you again."

"Why are you following me?" Kaneki asked.

"I saw that you were reading one of Sen Takatsuki's novels," Tsukiyama said. "I simply had to come and talk to you. It's not every day you meet someone who shares our appreciation for fine literature. The last I met was poor Rize."

Kaneki's eyes flicked up at him. "I wouldn't exactly say that she requires sympathy. She tried to kill me and she died instead."

"That is rather fortunate," Tsukiyama smiled. "It would be a shame to lose someone so special. Still, Rize had been a dear friend of mine."

Kaneki watched him carefully. He didn't seem dangerous. He mostly seemed to be mourning a loss, and trying to make a friend.

"You know, I know of a cafe where Sen Takatsuki is rumored to frequent," Tsukiyama offered.

"Thanks, but I'll pass," Kaneki said. "I'm not really that thirsty."

"That's fair," Tsukiyama nodded. "I know you have trouble eating. Rize had quite the opposite problem. But I offer you the same thing I offered her. Join me for dinner with a few of my friends. We are more refined than most. We take pride in our diets. And any ghoul that has come to us has left completely satisfied. Even those who can't stomach the idea of eating human flesh."

Kaneki stared at him in silence. The idea of being able to eat without having the knowledge that it's human flesh running through his brain would be worth any risk of going with him. However, Touka had warned him to stay away from Tsukiyama, and quite frankly, he agreed.

"Sorry, but I think I'll just stick to my own methods for now," Kaneki said.

"But you're starving yourself," Tsukiyama said.

"I'll figure something out, eventually," Kaneki shrugged.

Tsukiyama sighed but nodded.

"As you wish," Tsukiyama sighed, extending his hand. "Au revoir Kaneki."

Kaneki hesitated but shook his hand. then, he stood and left, heading back to school and felt Tsukiyama watching him the entire way. Once he could no longer feel Tsukiyama watching him he sighed just as he felt something move on his hand. He looked down, noticing a small cut on the side of his hand, blood leaking out of it. The next day, when he got to work, Yoshimura was waiting.

"Ah, Kaneki, after work to day, I'd like you to meet with Yomo in the basement," Yoshimura said. "There's a door leading down there behind the bar."

"Yes sir," Kaneki nodded.

Yoshimura smiled and nodded, turning and walking away. Kaneki went to work, mind drifting to what Yomo could possibly want repeatedly. The last time he had been with Yomo, he had been useless. Maybe it was punishment of some kind. Before long, Kaneki found the day was over and headed down to the basement. Except, it wasn't a basement. It was a massive underground complex looking like a parking garage except so large he couldn't see the far end.

"What is this place?" Kaneki breathed.

"This is Anteiku's training room," Yomo said from below Kaneki.

Kaneki looked down. He was at the top of a cement wall with the rest of the room spreading out about ten feet below him, Yomo standing at the bottom of the wall, waiting for him. Kaneki sat down and dropped to the floor as Yomo shrugged off his trench coat.

"What kind of training?" Kaneki asked.

"This kind," Yomo said.

He lunged at Kaneki, throwing a punch and Kaneki shouted in fear, dodging to the side and barely dodging it. Yomo threw a kick and Kaneki staggered backward, narrowly avoiding it again.

"Not bad," Yomo said. "You seem naturally skilled at evasion. Try offense."

Kaneki stepped forward, punching at him only for Yomo to catch his hand, slamming a punch into his gut and throwing him backward.

"Your punches have no power behind them," Yomo said. "Use your hips. And work on training your strength and endurance. A lot."

"Why are we doing this?" Kaneki asked.

"With the increased presence of the ghoul investigators, you need to know how to fight well enough to at least escape if they catch you," Yomo said. "From now on, you'll train with me every day after work. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Kaneki nodded.

"You will also do one hundred pushups, crunches, and pullups a day, as well as running three miles," Yomo added.

Kaneki nodded and Yomo motioned for him to attack again. Several hours later, he he dropped into his bed groaning and with his entire body aching. The next day, Yomo was waiting at the cafe for him.

"Get in," Yomo said, climbing into his car.

Kaneki didn't even question it, sitting in the passenger seat without a word. Yomo pulled away from the shop, driving through the city until they finally stopped at a bar. Kaneki glanced at Yomo but he was already climbing out. Kaneki followed him inside, being greeted very enthusiastically by a woman with a black skirt, peachy orange hair, a see-through black shirt over it, and a gleaming smile.

"Welcome to my shop!" she greeted. "I'm Itori. What's your name?"

"I'm Kaneki," Kaneki said as she steered him to the a bar stool.

"It's so wonderful to meet you Kaneki!" Itori beamed.

"Hello again Kaneki," a voice said beside him.

Kaneki shouted in surprise, spinning and leaning away from Uta, who was sitting on the stool next to him, watching him.

"Oh, it's you," Kaneki said. "It's nice to meet you again."

"And you," Uta said. "You're getting better at lying."

"Oh don't be like that Uta," Itori said. "So, Kaneki, you've probably been having a hard time around Yomo huh? He can be pretty antisocial but he's a good guy."

"Oh, it's not a problem," Kaneki smiled, before becoming more serious. "To be honest, he's probably had a hard time with me. I haven't been able to do anything right ever since I became a ghoul. I always end up having to apologize for messing things up."

"Oh, you'll get the hang of it," Itori said. "Besides, you can't possibly apologize as much as Yomo and Uta used to."

"What do you mean?" Kaneki asked.

"They may seem to be cool and collected now, but when they were younger they used to be at each other's throats almost every day," Itori said. "Then when they finished fighting they'd have to apologize to each other for fighting."

"I see," Kaneki said.

"Itori, I don't think we brought him here to talk about me and Uta's past," Yomo said.

"Oh yeah," Itori beamed. "Thank you Renji."

Then, she turned, walking to the wine rack and picking up a bottle and pouring a glass, walking back and holding it out.

"Oh, no that's okay," Kaneki said. "I'm not of age yet, and I don't want to drink anyway."

"Oh don't worry," Itori smiled. "It's not alcohol."

Kaneki stared at it before realizing how sweet it smelled.

"It's blood," Kaneki realized.

Itori smiled sweetly. Then, she flung the blood out of the cup onto Kaneki, grabbing his eyepatch off his face a second later.

"Hey!" Kaneki gasped, pulling his blood covered shirt away from his skin. "You ruined my shirt!"

"Wow," Itori said. "Yomo was right. You do only have one red eye."

Kaneki blinked before raising a hand to his eye.

"Sorry for ruining your shirt," Itori smiled. "Hm, I always wondered if that other one-eyed ghoul was only a rumor."

"Wait, other?" Kaneki asked.

"Oops," Itori smiled. "Have I piqued your interest?"

"Please tell me," Kaneki said. "I don't even know what I am. The manager refuses to tell me anything about my parents. And I still don't know why being attacked by Rize made me suddenly be more ghoul than human, or why I have the same kagane as her, since, from what I've gathered, they're supposed to be unique."

"Well, I don't know much about it," Itori said. "I'm sure the manager has told you what I can. The union between a ghoul and a human usually results in a corpse. However, aside from you, I know of one other half-ghul that beat the odds. I don't know much about them, but they're known as the one-eyed owl. And it's the opposite eye from yours that's red. And it's said that a half-ghoul is far superior to a full-blood."

"I see," Kaneki nodded. "What about Rize?"

"Well," Itori sighed. "Once again, I only know rumors. I know she was a binge eater. She ate all the time. And I have no idea why her attacking you made you change from mostly human to full-blood hybrid. And then there was the mysterious circumstances of her death."

"Mysterious circumstances?" Kaneki asked. "It was an accident wasn't it?"

"You mean the manager never told you?" Itori asked. "Well, I suppose it's possible that it was an accident. But then, it was Rize's actions alone that brought the ghoul investigators to the twentieth ward. Given that fact, would it be totally inconceivable that someone might want to kill her? You just ended up being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Kaneki stared at the bar in silence.

"That's enough, Itori," Yomo interrupted.

"Oh fine," Itori sighed before turning back to Kaneki. "But you know who might know about Rize. Shuu Tsukiyama, the Gourmet. He and Rize used to be old friends. If anyone knew anything about her it was him."

"Really?" Kaneki asked.

"Yes," Itori nodded.

"Stay away from him Kaneki," Yomo said. "He's a cannibal."

Kaneki swallowed hard before nodding. Kaneki glanced at Uta.

"How's my mask coming along?" Kaneki asked.

"Well," Uta said. "But here. I made a temporary one for you."

He held out a thin cloth mask and Kaneki took it. It was black with a skeleton-like grin on the mouth piece and a black eyepatch with a skull-and-cross-bones stitched to the top to cover Kaneki's human eye. He smiled looking at it. It was kind of ridiculous, but he liked it.

"Thank you," Kaneki bowed before following Yomo out of the shop.

They returned to the car and Yomo drove him to the shop. Once there, Kaneki went to work. After work, he fought against Yomo, once again being thoroughly destroyed. Finally, Yomo decided to let Kaneki stop. Kaneki left Anteiku and began to walk home. As he walked, he heard the sounds of someone being beaten. He stopped at the corner, peaking around it, seeing two men kicking a man who was lying on the ground, barely able to defend himself. It took him a full minute to realize that the man was Nishiki.

"To think the great Nishiki would be reduced to this state," one of the men smirked, stomping on his head. "How's that for irony? You're prey on your own hunting grounds."

Kaneki turned, beginning to walk away.

"Yeah break it!" the second man's voice shouted, Kaneki freezing as he head a loud crack followed by a deafening scream.

"I have to do it," Kaneki sighed, turning around and walking back to the pair. "Excuse me. Don't you think you're going a little too far?"

"And just who the hell are you?" one of the men asked, walking toward him. "Are you a friend of this scum?"

"No, not at all," Kaneki said. "But I am responsible for him being that weak. So I can't just stand around and let him be killed."

"You?" the first ghoul snorted, eyes turning red. "You did this to him? Yeah right!"

He lunged forward, punching at Kaneki only for him to dodge to the left and counter with a hook. It connected easily, the ghoul not having expected Kaneki to have any training, even though it was only a little. And, to Kaneki's credit, it was a lot harder than it would have been before Yomo had begun to train him. However, it was still barely more than a slap to the ghoul. He grinned, turning back to Kaneki and beginning to strike at him rapidly. Kaneki stayed out of the way of the punches, striking back when he could, but his strikes barely held any power. Finally, the other ghoul joined in, starting with a kick to the back of the head. Kaneki crashed to the ground, groaning as the two ghouls stalked toward him.

"You know, originally, we were just going to cannibalize Nishiki, but now we get two ghouls," the leader of the two grinned. "Our lucky day."

He began to laugh but stopped when Kaneki planted a foot between his legs, then a knee to his nose. Kaneki spun, ducking under the other ghoul's fist before planting a fist in his throat, making him fall to the ground, coughing hard.

"Fuck this!" the ghoul shouted. "Let's just go! It's not worth it."

Both ran from the alleyway and Kaneki stared after them, shocked that he had actually won, even though they were slower and weaker than Yomo. After a moment, he walked over to Nishiki, helping him up.

"Why would you...help me?" Nishiki groaned. "I tried...to kill you! And Nagachika!"

"Just tell me where you live, alright?' Kaneki sighed.

Nishiki growled in annoyance before relenting, allowing Kaneki to help him home. Just as they arrived, the door flew open and the same girl Kaneki and Hide had accidentally walked in on appeared in the doorway.

"Nishiki!" she shouted, rushing over. She helped him inside, kneeling on the floor with him in her lap. "It seems like every time you go out you come back hurt!"

"My hunger's killing me," Nishiki said.

The girl glanced at Kaneki before adopting a glare.

"No, Kimi don't," Nishiki said. "He's okay."

"But he's the guy that hurt you last time!" Kimi said.

"Yeah, he's the guy," Nishiki said. "Allow me to introduce you to the kid who tore that hole in my stomach."

Nishiki turned his head toward Kimi, passing out. Kaneki stepped forward, helping her lift him and carrying him to a bed. Once he was resting on it, they left, walking to a park where Kimi sat on a bench.

"Excuse me, Kimi?" Kaneki said. "You're a human right? So why do you choose to be a ghoul?"

"I'm in love with him," Kimi said.

"You know that he kills other people, right?" Kaneki asked. "Doesn't that affect your feelings for him?"

"Well of course it does," Kimi said. "But as long as it's no one I know, I try not to think about it too much. Besides, if he didn't kill them, then he would die. Please help me! There's got to be something that I can do to save Nishiki!"

"The thing is, Nishiki needs to eat in order to survive," Kaneki said.

"But how am I supposed to help him with that!?" Kimi sobbed.

Kaneki watched her cry for several seconds. Finally, he sighed, pulling the package of meat out of his pocket. He had kept it with him so that if his hunger got the best of him somehow, he would hopefully eat it instead of a person. But clearly Nishiki needed it more than him.

"Here," Kaneki said. "It's not much, and it won't get him back to full strength, but it should get him strong enough to fend for himself."

Kimi stared at it before nodding and accepting it smiling. "Thank you so much! I'll find a way to repay you."

Kaneki nodded and walked her back to Nishiki's apartment before leaving, heading back to his own. However, just as he turned the last corner, he bumped into Tsukiyama, who was heading the other way.

"Oh, Kaneki, what a coincidence," Tsukiyama smiled. "I was actually just looking for you. I know you turned down my offer of coffee, but I would like to invite you to my restaurant. You don't need to eat if you don't want. but a little bird told me you were trying to find out about Rize. Coincidentally, Rize happened to enjoy the restaurant. She always ran up quite the tab there, but she frequented it quite often. Perhaps you could learn something about her there."

"Really?" Kaneki asked. "Well...sure then. I'd love to see it."

"Splendid!" Tsukiyama smiled. "Right this way."

He turned, walking away and kaneki followed. After about thirty minutes, they reached a very fancy-looking hotel and Kaneki instantly realized it wasn't the kind of place he could go dressed as casually as he was.

"I don't think I'm dressed for a place like this," Kaneki said.

"Don't you worry, we always have extra clothes for any guests we have, I'm sure we'll have something to fit you," Tsukiyama smiled.

He stopped in front of the doorman, whispering something to him.

"As you wish, sir," the doorman bowed. "Right this way, sir."

He bowed to Kaneki before walking away, Kaneki following.

"I'll see you soon, dear Kaneki!" Tsukiyama called after him.

Kaneki swallowed hard. He didn't trust Tsukiyama, but he needed to find out about Rize. After another few minutes, he was dressed in a tux that fit relatively well, and was led to a small table with a cup of coffee.

"Please wait here," the butler said. "Master Tsukiyama will be with you shortly."

He walked away and Kaneki reached for the cup of coffee, stopping as Touka's warning not to trust Tsukiyama returned. He left the coffee alone and sat down. Almost fifteen minutes later, the ceiling above him opened and the floor began to move, rising into the room above where hundreds of ghouls above them were standing around, cheering as they saw him. Then, Tsukiyama stepped into view above them, now wearing a stark white suit with a crescent moon mask hiding his eyes and hanging down to his chin on the left side.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Tsukiyama shouted, everyone falling silent. "Today I have a very special treat for you! A ghoul!"

Murmurs began to echo around the room. Ghouls debating whether they wanted to try cannibalism.

"Now, I know that many of you already know that ghoul meat has a very coarse flavor," Tsukiyama continued. "However, I have something that might interest you."

He tossed a small cloth over the edge of the balcony he was on and into the stands, the smell of the blood on it sending everyone into a frenzy.

"There, do you smell it?" Tsukiyama asked. "He may be a ghoul, but he bears the scent of a human! Surely something like that must have a very unique and exquisite flavor! Now, for the scrapper!"

A door off to the side began to rattle open and Kaneki spun toward it, finding a massive, excessively fat man with a maroon cloth wrapped around his head with only a pair of holes for his eyes and his large round nose poking out. He had no shirt, black gloves, black pants, and a number of tools ranging from a hacksaw in his hand to a meat cleaver on his belt.

"Today's scrapper is Taro, courtesy of Madam. A!" Tsukiyama announced.

"Get him Taro!" a female voice ordered.

"Yes Mama!" Taro replied charging.

He swung the axe at Kaneki and Kaneki dove to the side, taking off running instantly. Taro chased him, swiping at him whenever he got close enough, however, Kaneki was able to keep out of the way for a while. Finally, Taro managed to corner him and reached out to grab him. His hand was the size of Kaneki's entire torso, so Kaneki had no trouble grabbing his thumb and pinky and flipping over his arm, twisting it. Then, as soon as he landed, he kicked upward into Taro's elbow, snapping his arm. Taro screamed in pain before swiping at Kaneki again. Kaneki dove forward, rolling under Taro then sprinting away only for his legs to go numb. He dropped to the ground just as Taro turned, picking him up with his free hand. He began to squeeze as Kaneki fought to break free, unsuccessfully. He grit his teeth, fighting. He couldn't breath. He was going to die. He could hear a voice saying something about gas and paralysis. He ignored it. He had to breathe. He felt desperation flood him and pushed harder against Taro's thumb. Finally, it began to give. Then, he dropped to the ground, leaping at Taro and slamming a fist into his face, launching him backward before dropping to the ground, panting, the ghouls above him shouting about a one-eyed ghoul.

"Taro, get up you big lug!" Madam A shouted. "You're embarrassing me! Kill him!"

"Yes Mama!" Taro shouted, pushing himself up just as Tsukiyama appeared behind him, driving his hand into Taro's spine. "Hey, that hurts!"

"I'm afraid I must apologize," Tsukiyama announced. "The commotion was my fault entirely, though not by design. You see I had no way of knowing the boy was a living legend. That being said, our pallets must be placated and I've no intention of denying them. So I propose a compromise." He drove his other hand into Taro's back before ripping him almost in half and stepping through, blood bursting out of Taro, soaking Tsukiyama. "We have a prized pet here and it would be a shame for him to go to waste.

"Taro, Taro!" Madam A shrieked. "Oh my Taro! You...You good-for-nothing! How dare you embarrass me! I hope you feed your bones to the dogs!"

Taro, who was, miraculously, still alive, began to cry. Tsukiyama walked over to Kaneki, kneeling down and smiling.

"Did you enjoy that Kaneki?" Tsukiyama asked. "I know I did. I trust you know this was all in good fun. I'm sorry if things got a little out of hand."

"Rize never came here, did she?" Kaneki asked, slowly pushing himself up.

"No, I'm afraid not," Tsukiyama sighed. "That woman never understood the merits of fine dining. She was always content to slum around, eating whatever she could find."

"I see," Kaneki said. "Stay away from me. I'm not on the menu."

Tsukiyama simply smiled and walked away. Kaneki stood, walking back to the spot he had risen through the floor and stepping on it, the floor lowering again instantly. From there, he backtracked back to the exit, leaving the nightmarish place behind.

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Final Straw

"Yomo?" Kaneki said as they walked to the underground area of Anteiku.

"Yes?" Yomo asked.

"Can you teach me to use my Kagane?" Kaneki asked. "In the past, it's manifested itself whenever I'm in danger, and I feel either really angry or really desperate. I want to be able to control it."

"I see," Yomo said as two flaming wings grew from his back, looking more spikes and dangerous than Touka's. "Learning to control you Kagane is important, but difficult. And it requires that you eat."

"Oh," Kaneki said.

"However," Yomo continued. "You've used it effectively several times without eating, so you may be able to learn. We'll give it a try."

Kaneki nodded, smiling. "Thank you."

Yomo nodded and let his wings fade, attacking Kaneki.

* * *

Kaneki set the cup on the rack to dry just as the door leading upstairs opened. He turned, seeing Yoshimura and Kaya.

"You're done for today Kaneki," Yoshimura said. "I've asked Kaya to take over."

"Okay sir," Kaneki nodded. "But, where's Touka? Wasn't she supposed to work today?"

"She called in sick," Kaya said.

"Oh," Kaneki said.

"Kaneki, would you mind checking on her before you go?" Yoshimura asked.

"Not at all," Kaneki nodded.

He grabbed a bottle of instant coffee and walked upstairs, stopping at her door and glancing at the name plaque, seeing the name Ayato Kirishima alongside Touka's. he shrugged, deciding it was none of his business and knocked. Just as he did, the door opened and Ryoko stepped out, looking back into the apartment.

"Okay, I'm leaving!" Ryoko called. "Thank you for keeping an eye on her. Hinami, be a good girl and do whatever Touka says, okay? Bye!" She turned, stopping as she saw Kaneki, who had stepped back so she wouldn't run into him. "Oh, hello Kaneki."

"Hello Ryoko," Kaneki smiled.

"What are you doing here?" Touka asked.

"The Manager told me you were sick so I thought I'd check on you," Kaneki said.

Touka sighed, turning and walking back into the apartment. "You might as well come in."

Kaneki did so, closing the door behind him and sitting beside the table silently.

"Well, what are you doing here?" Touka asked. "Really."

"It's like I said," Kaneki said. "I heard you were sick and wanted to check on you."

"Mhm, so what'd you bring me?" Touka asked.

"All I could think of was this," Kaneki said, holding up the bottle. "It's nowhere near as good as the coffee we serve downstairs, and it's kind of pointless since you live above a coffee shop, but I figured it couldn't hurt."

She stared at him for a moment before rolling her eyes. "At least you brought something. Just leave it on the table for now."

He nodded setting it down just as Hinami looked over at him.

"Kaneki, what is this word?" Hinami asked.

"Uh, let's see," Kaneki said, looking at the book. "That's orange osmanthus."

"Is that another flower?" Hinami asked.

"That's right," Kaneki nodded.

"I'll get some coffee started," Touka sighed.

"I can do it if you want," Kaneki offered.

"Nah, you're good," Touka said. "You're helping Hinami with her reading."

"But if you're not feeling well, then you should rest," Kaneki said.

"I'm fine, I just ate too much," Touka said.

Kaneki stared at her, unsure about what she ate too much of. After a moment, the doorbell rang. Touka turned and walked to the door and Kaneki stood, curious. Just as he neared the corner into the hallway leading to the door, he heard the door open.

"Yoriko Kuroiwa, hey, what's up?" Touka greeted.

"I'm sorry, I should have called," a female voice responded. "But you weren't at school so I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"You came by to check on me?" Touka asked, just as Kaneki reached the corner, peaking around it, seeing a girl with light brown hair and a pick coat standing in the doorway.

"Yeah, and also..." Yoriko stopped, staring at him.

For some reason, he had a sudden feeling like he had done something wrong somehow.

"Touka!" Yoriko said, looking back and forth between Touka and Kaneki. "Don't tell me that you two..."

Touka glanced back at Kaneki, murder in her eyes before she turned back to Yoriko, adopting an innocent look. "Oh, no, that's just Kaneki."

"I get it!" Yoriko said, clearly mad as she shoved a pot into Touka's hands. "I made you these dumplings. Share them with him!"

"Listen, I think you've got the wrong idea!" Touka began, glaring at Kaneki again just as Yoriko began to walk away. "Hey! Yoriko wait!"

Yoriko closed the door halfway before stopping, stepping back into view with a thumbs up and a scowl, then closing it the rest of the way, walking away.

"Uh...I'm...sorry," Kaneki said, receiving an exasperated sigh as a response.

She walked back to the stove, setting the pot down and opening it, Kaneki wincing at the smell as he stared at the food that looked like it would taste absolutely delicious.

"Jeez, seems like such a waste," Kaneki said.

"I'll eat it!" Touka snapped. "It must have taken her hours to make this for me!"

"Wait, you've been making yourself sick eating human food?" Kaneki asked.

"Yeah, what of it?" Touka asked.

"That's...You can't eat that much if you want to keep it down," Kaneki said.

"I have to!" Touka said. "I'm not wasting any of it!"

"But if you throw it back up from eating too much, you _will_ wast it," Kaneki said. "I suppose the only thing to do is for me to help you."

Touka stopped, staring at him before nodding, scooping some of the stew into a bowl for him. He accepted it then steeled his nerves and took a bite struggling to force it down his throat before the taste could really hit him. It barely helped, and he found himself having to gag it back down almost instantly.

"I'm sure it would be amazing if I were still able to eat human food," he said after he had finished gagging.

Touka nodded just as Kaneki had an idea. He picked the instant coffee up off the table, pouring some onto the stew and trying another bite. It was still awful and made him want to vomit, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before.

"Here," he said, holding the instant coffee out. "It helps."

She nodded, dumping almost the entire bottle into the pot and on their bowls. Then, they set to work, choking down all of the food. They sat in silence for a time, both chugging coffee that Touka had made while eating to keep the food down.

"Th...Thanks," Touka finally said.

"You're welcome," Kaneki said. "So, even you have a human friend, huh?"

"I'll beat your ass," Touka grumbled, Kaneki chuckling, somehow finding her green-faced threat non-threatening, even though she probably still could.

His smile dropped off his face, however, when he remembered that he had to fight Yomo still. "I'm doomed."

"Why?" Touka asked.

"I have to train with Yomo after this," Kaneki said.

"You're training with Yomo?" Touka asked.

"I wouldn't call it training so much as he beats the crap out of me all the time," Kaneki groaned.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Touka said. "Well, maybe not today. But eventually."

Kaneki sighed and nodded before pushing himself up, gritting his teeth as his stomach churned. Once he was on his feet he sighed. "I'll see you around Touka, Hinami."

"Good luck," Touka said.

Kaneki nodded before turning and walking out of the apartment, making his way downstairs to Yomo who gave him a knowing look.

"You shouldn't practice eating before coming here in the future," Yomo said. "It decreases your fighting potential."

"Sorry," Kaneki said, dropping down to stand in front of him, swallowing a wave of nausea threatening to make him lose his lunch.

Yomo nodded once before shooting forward, Kaneki barely escaping. However, he had miscalculated just how weakened he'd be. As a result, Yomo's followup knee slammed into his head, followed by several more blows before Kaneki began to gag. He grabbed his throat, keeping it from coming up and forcing it back down, his eyes watering as he did. Once it had mostly settled again, he pushed himself up, panting.

"You're trying to keep it down?" Yomo asked. "Why?"

"Partially to see if my half human side exists at all," Kaneki said. "Partially because it's important to Touka."

"Touka?" Yomo blinked before understanding filled his eyes. "I see. That's why she's sick."

"Please don't tell the manager," Kaneki said. "Touka will get over it soon."

"I won't," Yomo said. "But Kaneki, you'll have to eat if your human half _can't_ absorb that food."

Kaneki nodded before they continued their fight, more carefully this time, so that Kaneki could keep his lunch.

* * *

Kaneki looked out the sliding glass door as he heard a knock, seeing a note and a rose. _Tsukiyama,_ he walked to the door, pushing it open and picking up the note, opening it.

"My sweet Kaneki, won't you join me for supper this evening? How's midnight sound? I've already brought that charming woman you were speaking with at the park the other night. But, to be honest, it's your company I'm really locking forward to."

Below the message was a map with a church marked. Kaneki growled in rage, crumpling the note and hurling it aside, stomping on the rose. If he had Kimi, Nishiki would be after him too. As if on cue, there was a knock on the door, and he opened it to find Nishiki supporting himself on the wall, the empty wrapper from the meat Kaneki had left him in his hand.

"Don't worry," Kaneki said. "I'll get her back."

"I'm coming with you," Nishiki snarled. "Kimi is all I've got. I'm going to rescue her."

"Okay," Kaneki said. "Let's go."

They ran out of the building and through the streets until they reached the church, hearing an organ playing inside. Kaneki pushed the doors open, the hinges groaning loudly and drawing Tsukiyama's attention.

"Kaneki, tell me are you a fan of Beethoven?" Tsukiyama asked, turning to them.

"Tsukiyama!" Nishiki shouted, gritting his teeth.

"Well this is awkward," Tsukiyama said. "I don't recall inviting you Nishio."

"Give Kimi back you sick freak!" Nishiki snarled.

"Apologies but I simply cannot do that," Tsukiyama said, walking over to stand between them and Kimi, who was lying on the alter, tied up and blindfolded but unconscious. "You see, I'll be needing her to add spice to tonight's entree. It is important that she remain as fresh as possible for sweet Kaneki's pleasure."

"Huh?" Nishiki growled.

"Do allow me to explain," Tsukiyama smiled. "What I want is quite simple. I shall feast upon Sweet Kaneki, while Sweet Kaneki is feasting upon her!"

"You son of a bitch!" Nishiki snarled.

"I'm not eating anyone," Kaneki said. "If you're going to eat me do it, just leave Kimi and Nishiki out of it."

"Oh?" Tsukiyama smiled broadly. "How very noble of you. That's the Kaneki I know. However, I'm afraid I can't do that."

He shot forward, appearing in front of Kaneki before Kaneki could react.

"You will eat the girl, and I will eat you while you do," Tsukiyama snarled. "I think it's important that you remember that it is your flavor that has driven me to this, and it is important that you realize just how delicious you will be!"

Nishiki threw a punch at Tsukiyama, but Tsukiyama knocked it aside, grabbing Nishiki by the throat and tossing him into the air before drilling a punch into his face before he could even fly far. Nishiki sailed through the air, crashing down hard on the pews and smashing them.

"Nishiki!" Kaneki shouted.

"You can wait over there," Tsukiyama said.

Kaneki spun toward him, throwing several punches, only for Tsukiyama to easily step out of the way of all of them.

"Oh my, you're rather clumsy aren't you?" Tsukiyama asked. "Toddling about like a freshly hatched chick!" He caught the next punch. "Pay attention. This my friend-" he drilled a punch into Kaneki's face, throwing him backward and knocking off his eyepatch. "-is what a real punch feels like."

Kaneki stood, sprinting forward and throwing a sloppy kick.

"Oh and..." Tsukiyama stepped out of the way of the kick then slammed one of his own into Kaneki's side, launching him into the end of a pew. "...this is what a real kick feel like. Well then my darling, what sort of attack would you like to see demonstrated next?"

Then, a blue blur shot past, Tsukiyama's head snapping to the side as blood sprayed out.

"How about that one?" Touka said. "It's a regular sneak attack."

"Touka!" Kaneki smiled as Tsukiyama staggered backward, holding a hand to his wounded eyes.

"I must admit this is rather embarrassing," Tsukiyama said, lowering his hands and revealing a gash across both eyes. "It's been quite some time since I was scratched."

"When I'm done, you'll be picking up your teeth with broken fingers," Touka smirked, dropping to the ground and stretching her arms. "You creepy bastard."

"You have such a filthy mouth, Miss Kirishima," Tsukiyama smiled, wiping the blood from his eyes, lowering his hand to reveal that they were healed already. "I remember a time when you had that lithe body of yours honed like a sharpened blade. It must have weakened considerably over the years or that scratch would have taken more than seconds to heal."

"That was just my way of saying hello," Touka grinned. "Wouldn't be any fun if it was over as soon as it started."

"Oh my gosh, such a feisty little girl, still..." Tsukiyama threw his jacket off. "...that's always been the heart of your charm my lovely." He sprinted forward, kicking at her only for his foot to smash a pew. He raised his arms, blocking Touka's kick. "Do you really think that's enough to beat me?"

Touka continued to throw lightning-fast kicks and punches at him, seeming to keep him on the defense, Kaneki watching for an opening to help without getting in the way.

"Remember when you were fourteen, and I was eighteen?" Tsukiyama asked. "Those cold piercing eyes of yours that shone like crystal shards. I will never forget their beauty."

Suddenly, Touka's foot crashed into the side of his head as he was distracted. He crashed into the side of a pew, grinning.

"Trying to win me over with words?" Touka snarled. "Well forget it!"

"I'm not ashamed to admit I was quite smitten with you back then," Tsukiyama said, wiping the corner of his mouth.

As he did, Kaneki sprinted over, spinning and slamming a windmill kick into the side of Tsukiyama's head, throwing him backward. Tsukiyama crashed into yet another pew, dropping to the ground and grinning even more.

"I'm leaving, and I'm taking Kimi with me," Kaneki said. "Tonight you're going hungry."

"That was a good kick," Tsukiyama smiled. "I mean it." He opened his eyes to see both Kaneki and Touka moving in to strike him together. "Oh brother." he blocked both strikes, slamming a lick into Touka's gut, launching her into the air before twisting Kaneki's hand, Kaneki's eyes widening. "I believe you are familiar with this particular technique."

Then, he drilled his knee into Kaneki's elbow, breaking it. Kaneki screamed in pain, staggering away before falling.

"Now then, let's have a taste."

Tsukiyama drove his hand into Kaneki's abdomen then ripped it back out, licking the blood. "Trés Bien! So exquisite! A symphony of flavor in perfect harmony! Oh yes! It's even greater than I imagined! And now that I've had a taste I want something even more extravagant. I can't allow my morsel to die like this. No, not before he's feasted on my offering."

Kaneki managed to force his eyes open and see through the white and black spots his agony had placed in his vision in time to see Touka throw a kick at Tsukiyama only for him to block it.

"Once upon a time your cold dark heart set mine aflutter," Tsukiyama said. "Sad to say that's no longer the case." his Kagane began to grow from his back, glowing red inside and purple outside, flat like a blade as it grew into a corkscrew around his right arm. "Something's lit a fire in your eyes and you grow softer as you melt!" He spun, driving his Kagane through Touka's gut. "It's truly a shame, Miss Kirishima. You see, softness is the last thing that you need."

"Touka!" Kaneki shouted, feeling rage flooding him instantly. He stood, feeling the familiar pain at the small of his back, though Tsukiyama didn't notice.

"Stop interrupting my-"

He was cut off by Kaneki's foot crashing into his back and sending him rocketing across the room into the wall. He turned, looking at Kaneki and stopping, seeing the four tentacles waving behind Kaneki and the now smooth skin beneath the hole in his shirt.

"I see," Tsukiyama said, walking forward. "How interesting that your Kagane is the same as Rize's. Perhaps your meeting was fate."

"I'm going to tear you limb from limb!" Kaneki snarled, hands balling into fists. "I'm going to force feed you your own flesh!"

"Oh what's got you so angry?" Tsukiyama asked, stopping beside Touka and setting his foot on her head, seeing the rage in Kaneki's eyes intensify. "Ah, now I see. So then, I probably shouldn't do this?"

He stomped once, Touka shouting in pain as he did, the corner of his shoe's heel cutting her face, blood running down it. Tsukiyama didn't even have time to react before he was hanging ten feet of the ground from Kaneki's fist, Kaneki's tentacles holding them up. Kaneki's other fist drove itself into his face repeatedly, shattering his cheekbone, knocking several teeth out, and breaking his nose. Then, Kaneki lifted him and let go, flipping over and slamming his foot into Tsukiyama's face, blasting him into the ground before crashing down on his ribcage. Tsukiyama coughed, blood spraying out of his mouth before Kaneki kicked him, sending him flying only for one of Kaneki's tentacles to catch him around the waist. Tsukiyama's Kagane extended to a couple feet long at the end, where it was straight like a blade, rather than corkscrewed, and he slashed the tentacle, severing it. Kaneki's eyes narrowed as the tentacle regenerated and the end of it dissolved.

"You impress me Kaneki," Tsukiyama said. "Your Kagane is very pow-"

He was cut off this time by Kaneki's tentacles beginning to drill themselves into his stomach, lifting him into the air as they had done with Nishiki. Then, two wrapped around his torso and one wrapped around his right arm, ripping it and his Kagane both off before doing the same to his right leg. Then, they slammed him into the ground, leaving him a bloodied and thoroughly beaten mess. Instantly, Kaneki's tentacles retracted and he sprinted to Touka, gently lifting her into his lap.

"Touka!" Kaneki called out, Touka wincing and slowly opening her eyes, staring at Tsukiyama, who was barely breathing.

"You...won?" Touka asked.

"Yeah," Kaneki nodded. "Here, you need to eat something."

He pulled his sleeve up, holding his forearm in front of her.

"No," Touka said, turning her head away.

"It's okay, Touka," Kaneki smiled. "I don't mind."

Touka stared at him for a minute before reaching up. Kaneki grit his teeth, remaining nearly silent as Touka bit into his arm, tearing a chunk away and swallowing it, the wound in her stomach and the cut on the side of her head steaming as they slowly sealed themselves. Kaneki helped her sit up, glancing at his arm to see it was also healing, though much slower than her wounds did. Once she was on her feet, she turned toward Kimi, who was sitting up, extending her wing.

"Touka, no," Kaneki said.

"She knows too much," Touka said.

"What if it was Yoriko?" Kaneki asked. "Would you kill her then?"

Touka stared at Kimi who stared right back as Nishiki finished untying her.

"I-" Touka was cut off as Kimi smiled.

"Your wing's so pretty," Kimi said.

Touka stared at her in complete shock, Kaneki smiling.

"What did you say?" Touka asked, eyes wide. "I'm..."

"Touka, let's go home," Kaneki said.

Touka nodded slowly, wing fading as her eyes slowly turned back to normal. She began to fall but Kaneki caught her, helping her support her wait and looking to Nishiki and Kimi.

"Thank you," Nishiki said. "For saving Kimi."

"You're welcome," Kaneki said. "And if you need help, I'm sure the manager would be happy to lend a hand."

Nishiki nodded and Kaneki left with Touka, almost carrying her back to the cafe and then up to her room. He set her down on the bed and turned to leave only for Touka to catch his hand. He stopped, turning back to her and kneeling.

"Thank you," Touka said. "Thank you for defending me. And for stopping me from killing her."

"You're welcome," Kaneki smiled. "I'm glad you're okay."

Touka pulled him into a hug and he hugged her back. Then, after several seconds, he pulled back and stood.

"I'll stop by tomorrow after work, okay?" Kaneki asked.

Touka nodded, smiling and Kaneki turned, walking away only to stop as she spoke.

"Try not to use up all of whatever you bring next time, okay?" she asked.

He laughed, nodding and walked away, closing and locking her door behind himself before heading home.

* * *

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	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Doves

Kaneki pressed the doorbell again and waited. he sighed as there was no answer yet again. He turned but she spoke as he did.

"What do you want?" Touka asked.

"I just wanted to know if you wanted me to take your shift tomorrow," Kaneki said through the door.

"Sure, go ahead," Touka said. "Can't possibly do any worse than a failure like me," Touka said.

"You're not a failure, Touka," Kaneki said.

"I couldn't kill that girl," Touka said.

"That's good," Kaneki said.

"How?" Touka asked.

"Like I said then, it would be the same for Nishiki as if I had killed Yoriko would be for you," Kaneki said. "Probably even worse because he's in love with her. Not killing her doesn't make you a failure. It makes you a good person. If anyone's a failure, it's me. I got you all dragged into that mess with Tsukiyama because I didn't listen to you when you warned me to stay away. I let you get hurt. I'm too weak to defend myself unless I lose control and activate my Kagane, and I can't even help Yomo collect food supplies. I'm the most useless person in Anteiku. You're one of the best." he remained silent for a time, waiting for her to say something, anything. "Don't worry about your shift. I'll handle it. Just...please, don't shut everyone out. We're all worried about you. I'm worried about you."

He didn't wait for a response this time, instead simply walking away. He didn't get far, however, before a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind.

"You're not a failure," Touka said, burying her face into his back. "You saved my life. You defeated Tsukiyama, survived the Ghoul Restaurant, and you did it all on your own. Even if you were afraid, you still managed to do something not many others could claim to."

"But it could have all been avoided if I had never gone to the Ghoul Restaurant in the first place," Kaneki said.

"Maybe," Touka said, stepping around in front of him. "But Tsukiyama had already gotten your scent. He would have done whatever it took to come after you anyway."

Kaneki stared at the floor and Touka hugged him again, kaneki hugging her back this time.

"Thank you for always being there to look out for me," Touka said. "And thank you for what you said. It helped."

Kaneki smiled and nodded.

"I'll see you at work tomorrow," Touka said.

Then, she leaned up, giving him a quick kiss before disappearing into her room, closing and locking the door. Kaneki stood there, staring blankly into space before staring at the door. Then, he smiled widely, walking away. He returned to the room where Hinami was waiting. He had been looking after her while Ryoko spoke with Yoshimura, but had gone to check on Touka, Hinami promising not to tell.

"Is Touka doing okay?" Hinami asked.

"I think she's going to be just fine," Kaneki smiled.

"Okay!" Hinami beamed. "I have another word for you."

She pointed and he looked.

"Oh, that's a hard one," Kaneki said. "That's cloud burst."

"What's that?" Hinami asked.

"It's a sudden rain storm that doesn't last very long," Kaneki said just as the door opened and Ryoko walked in.

"Oh, what's going on here?" Ryoko smiled. "Is this another reading lesson?"

"Mhm!" Hinami hummed smiling widely.

"You're so sweet to do this for her," Ryoko smiled.

"It's no trouble," Kaneki smiled. "Well, I should go."

"Thanks again Kaneki!" Hinami smiled.

"See you tomorrow Hinami," Kaneki smiled.

He left the room, closing the door and walking away. He walked down stairs, helping clean up the rest of the way before leaving. He opened his umbrella, walking out into the rain and looking up. "What are the chances. I teach Hinami about a cloud burst, and now there is one. I bet she's teaching Ryoko about them now." He laughed at the thought, looking around. Everyone else looked miserable. Sure it was a little chilly, and a lot wet, but it wasn't too bad. Suddenly, he heard someone chastising someone for not paying attention. He looked over, seeing Hinami sitting in a puddle.

"Hinami!" Kaneki called out.

"Kaneki!" Hinami shouted, fear on her face.

He sprinted across the street instantly, dropping his umbrella. He knelt beside her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's mama!" Hinami said, pointing down the road.

"Run to Anteiku!" He shouted to her as he sprinted away.

As he ran, he ripped his eyepatch off, pulling his mask on. he pushed himself to run faster, feet beginning to slip in the water. Then, he found Ryoko. She was kneeling in an alleyway, a pair of men in trench coats standing before her, one with a massive metal rod with a glowing red cylinder on one end, and the other with a massive whip looking like a spine with curved blades on each vertebra and a much larger one on the end. He sprinted down the alleyway as the older man with the whip swung his arm, the blade shooting outward. Kaneki pushed harder. He had to make it. He couldn't let Ryoko die. He couldn't. he wouldn't fail again. He wouldn't let Hinami feel what he felt.

An image of a woman sitting slumped over a table filled his mind just as pain exploded from his shoulder. Then, he skidded to a stop, grunting in pain as the whip's blade crashed into his wing, cutting part-way into it and halting.

"Oh, and who's this?" the older man asked.

"What are you doing here?" Ryoko asked as her large, moth-like wings retracted. "Where is she?"

"She's safe," Kaneki growled, keeping his voice low. "Don't worry. You're not going to die today."

"Is that right?" the older man asked. "Why don't you come out from behind that wing and we'll just see about that."

"Very well," Kaneki snarled.

Then, he shoved with the wing, throwing the whip away just as the wing crystalized, sending wave of crystal shards flying down the alleyway at the duo. The older man swung his whip several times, forming a protective wall in front of them, blocking the shards just as Kaneki grabbed Ryoko and jumped, wing returning to its flame-like form and spreading out, allowing him to glide over a building before dropping them on the next. He began to run, leaping from building to building in an erratic and impossible to track path before dropping in an alleyway a long ways from Anteiku, retracting his wing and pulling off his mask, pulling his eyepatch on and tossing his jacket aside. Before Ryoko could protest, he did the same with her sweater and scarf. Then, he looked around. they left the alleyway, heading down the street toward Anteiku before stopping in another alleyway a couple of blocks away where the door to Uta's shop was. he pushed it open, walking in with Ryoko and found Uta working on something.

"Uta!" Kaneki called out, Uta looking over at him, face becoming serious as he saw Ryoko.

"What happened?" Uta asked.

"Doves," Kaneki said. "We need to get her to Anteiku."

"Did you lose them?" Uta asked.

"I'm not sure," Kaneki said. "I used the rooftops, so I think so."

Uta nodded, walking through a door and returning with a pair of black rain coats, handing them to the pair, along with a medical mask for Ryoko.

"Act sick," Uta said. "Head down the street away from Anteiku for three blocks and take the alleyway on the left. At the far end, Yomo will be waiting."

Kaneki nodded, he and Ryoko leaving, Ryoko beginning to act sick, quite effectively. They made their way down the street, following Uta's directions and finding Yomo's car sitting on the side of the road, running. They climbed in and a few tense, silent minutes later, they parked at Anteiku, Kaneki and Ryoko heading inside, finding Yoshimura and Kaya with Hinami.

"Mama!" Hinami shouted, throwing her arms around Ryoko the moment Ryoko pulled the mask off.

Yoshimura seemed to lose ten years and Kaya sighed in relief. Kaneki sat at a table, sighing before raising a hand to his eye.

"Thank you, Kaneki," Ryoko said. "There is nothing I can do to ever repay you."

"You're fine," Kaneki smiled just as Touka stepped into the room, looking confused.

"What are you wearing?" Touka asked.

"Uta gave them to us to hide us from the doves that tried to kill Hinami and Ryoko," Kaneki said.

Touka stared at him in shock before looking to the obviously unharmed Ryoko and Hinami. "How?"

"Kaneki saved her!" Hinami said.

"She's right," Ryoko nodded. "I owe you my life, Kaneki."

"No, you don't," Kaneki said, looking to Yomo. "I need more training with it."

"Agreed," Yomo nodded. "We'll start tomorrow. For now, everyone's resting here."

"I agree," Yoshimura said. "We'll work out what to do with the two of you tomorrow."

"What about the doves?" Touka asked.

"What about them?" Yoshimura asked.

"We should kill them!" Touka said. "We need to kill them before everyone finds out what Ryoko and Hinami look like!"

"No," Yoshimura said. "I forbid it. If a dove is killed in the twentieth ward, more will come. You could start a war."

"We can't just let them make Ryoko and Hinami fugitives!" Touka said.

"We don't have any other choice," Yoshimura said. "Now, Ryoko, Hinami, head upstairs and take a nice hot shower. I'll be up personally in a bit."

They both nodded and left the room.

"You're a cowardly old man!" Touka snapped.

"Touka," Kaneki said. "Maybe he's right. Speaking as someone that was once human, if a ghoul investigator was killed, their next move _would_ be to send reinforcements in order to kill whichever ghoul did it. And in order to do it, they would search house by house in order to flush that ghoul out. If two ghoul investigators were killed, however, it would mean all out war. We can't risk that."

"So that's it?" Touka asked. "You won't support me either?"

"I'm...I'm sorry Touka," Kaneki said. "I can't. Not in this."

"Fine," Touka growled. "You're all cowards."

"Touka-" Kaneki stopped as she walked up the stairs, slamming the door behind her.

"Let her go," Yoshimura said. "She's made her choice. She will bring war down upon us. i will not have you being a part of that."

"I'm already a part of it," Kaneki said. "I attacked them when I saved Ryoko. I may not want to kill them, but I _will_ protect Touka."

Yoshimura sighed but nodded. "She'll wait for nightfall. She's smart. Work with Yomo until then."

Kaneki nodded and the two of them headed to the underground facility. It wasn't much, but maybe one more training session would be enough.

* * *

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	9. Chapter 9

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Preparations

Kaneki sprinted through the street, looking around carefully. It was late and the streets were deserted, so anyone he saw would probably instantly recognize him as a ghoul by his mask. Originally he had planned to leave with Touka, but she had disappeared before he had finished training with Yomo.

"Dammit Touka," Kaneki growled. "You couldn't wait five more minutes."

He turned a corner and skidded to a stop, spotting two police officers. He recognized them instantly as the two men that had been backing up the ghoul investigators that tried to kill Ryoko. They didn't notice him, so he stepped back around the corner, watching them, also glancing around at the buildings around them. Sure enough, he spotted Touka, wearing a dark grey rain coat and a white rabbit mask. He looked back at the police officers, seeing them laughing about something. Then, Touka attacked. In the blink of an eye, the shorter of the two who wore glasses went stiff, the ghost of a smile remaining on his lips as the top of his head slowly slid off and fell to the ground, landing with a wet splat.

"Kusaba!" the other man shouted.

Kaneki sprinted forward as he spotted the first ghoul investigator running toward them. Thankfully he didn't have his attache case. Just as Touka attacked the other police officer, the ghoul investigator tackled him out of the way, saving him. Then, the other slid down the side of the cement canal they were in, the same massive spinal-column-like whip he had tried to kill Ryoko with in hand. He swung his hand, sending the whip at Touka and Kaneki pushed himself faster, getting between them and dropping into a slide, kicking the end of the whip upward, making it sail over Touka and stab down into the ground off to the side.

"Oh, you're a tricky one," the man grinned. "You're that one that saved Ms. Fueguchi aren't you? I see. An Ukakus type. Let's see how fast you are."

He yanked his hand back, ripping the whip free of the ground before beginning to swing it around and around, the whip swiping at Kaneki rapidly. Kaneki ducked and dodged the whip as best he could, the teeth on the back passing closer and closer to him each swing. It was an exhausting task to avoid the whip. He rolled out of the way of one, trying to put distance between himself and it only for the whip to swing sideways at him. He flipped over it and found it flying up at him. Seconds before it hit, Touka's hand grabbed his, yanking him sideways out of the way and to the ground.

"Thanks," Kaneki said, panting for breath.

"Use your Kagane you idiot," Touka said.

"I can't activate it at will," Kaneki said. "It's more on instinct than anything."

Touka rolled her eyes, speeding toward the older man holding the whip and he grinned wickedly.

"Another Ukaku," he grinned. "Does your kind hunt in packs?"

Touka threw a punch at him but he swung the whip around, getting it in the way and blocking the punch. Touka flipped over the man, kicking at him and he turned, again blocking the strike with the whip. As he did, Kaneki shot forward, punching at him. The man looked back, then jumped over Kaneki, his heel slamming into the side of Kaneki's head, launching him to the side. He crashed to the ground hard and slowly pushed himself up, looking up at the man as he sent the whip at Touka as she was falling. She couldn't dodge it, and it was too close to miss, though thankfully not lined up enough to impale her.

Kaneki got his feet under him, shooting forward and throwing a punch at the man, who was between Kaneki and Touka, making him leap into the air again, allowing Kaneki to pass under him. Then, Kaneki sped to Touka's side, kicking the whip away just seconds before it reached her. Instead of splitting her arm open, it split the bottom of his foot open instead. He shouted in pain, falling onto his rear and holding his foot off the ground. Touka spun, picking him up and leaping over the whip instantly, the pair of them shooting through the air to the side of a building before Touka jumped off of that too, launching them both up onto the roof of another building, then from there to the next before stopping, setting Kaneki down and pulling her mask up.

"Are you alright?" Touka asked.

"I'll be fine," Kaneki said, inspecting his foot, which was partially healed already. "I'll be limping by work tomorrow but I'll be healed by the end of my shift."

Touka nodded, turning away from him and pulling her mask back down. "Climb on. We need to get out of here quickly."

Kaneki nodded, using his good foot to climb onto her back and she leapt away from the ghoul investigators, stopping in an alleyway behind Anteiku, heading inside and helping him up to her room. Once there, she set him on the bed, heading into the bathroom for medical supplies. He took his shoe and sock off, and when she returned, he wrapped it himself.

"Thank you for stopping it," Touka said. "I'm sorry you got hurt."

"It's alright," Kaneki smiled. "I'll be fine by the end of tomorrow. I'm going to head home. I'll see you tomorrow. Okay?"

"Sure," Touka nodded. "See you."

Kaneki hobbled out of the room, making his way slowly home, falling asleep the moment he hit the bed. The next day, he was able to walk with only a small limp and made his way back to Anteiku, limping into the store and beginning his shift. Touka helped him when he needed it, but for the most part, he was able to do his job himself. As Kaneki had thought, by the end of his shift, his foot was healed fully and he was able to walk normally. Then, as Kaneki was finishing cleaning up, Touka walked over to him.

"Kaneki, I have to go and get something, but I want you to meet me at the train station in an hour," Touka said.

"Sure," Kaneki nodded.

Touka turned, walking away from him and leaving the shop. Kaneki finished up and left the building, walking toward the train station. It wasn't far, but he didn't have anything else to do. About an hour and a half later, Touka finally reached the train station, holding out a satchel.

"Change into this," Touka said. "And leave the eyepatch off."

Kaneki looked up at her, unsure for a moment before nodding and taking the bag into the bathroom. A few minutes later, he walked back out, now wearing a school uniform. His own clothes were in the satchel with the eyepatch, as ordered. A couple minutes later, when Touka stepped out of the women's bathroom in a female uniform from the same school, she walked over, inspecting him for a moment before reaching up and messing his hair up, making it stick out in places rather than being neatly combed.

"There," Touka said. "That's tolerable. Let's go."

Kaneki didn't bother to ask for an explanation, simply following her as they left the train station. However, after about twenty minutes, they rounded a corner, the CCG branch office coming into view and Kaneki froze.

"Touka, no," Kaneki said. "You've got to be kidding! We can't go in there!"

"We can and we will," Touka said, Kaneki beginning to follow her again. "Listen, most of the information the CCG gathers is from tips by civilians. Right now, all we are is a couple of elementary kids. You look young for your age so no one will notice anything."

She stopped at a large bulletin board, pointing to several papers. One was information about Rize, labelled as "The Binge Eater," the next was about Tsukiyama as "The Gourmet," and the last was about Ryoko and Hinami both, simply saying, "Mother and Daughter." Hinami's had a picture of Hinami's favorite dress, the same she had been wearing the day they had been attacked, and Ryoko had a sketch of her Kagane.

"Why not us?" Kaneki asked quietly.

"I don't know," Touka said. "Maybe they didn't get enough of a read on our abilities."

Kaneki nodded. "So, we're going to go and give false information to throw them off Ryoko and Hinami's trails?"

"That's right," Touka nodded. "We'll send them to the opposite side."

Kaneki nodded and Touka turned to him directly.

"Remember, all you are is the yes man," Touka said. "Whatever I say, just go with it but don't be too descriptive."

Kaneki nodded and they walked to the building, stepping inside. Instantly, Kaneki spotted a white doorway that looked like a metal scanner off to the left. They walked up to the desk and Touka told the man they were there to give information regarding the Mother and Daughter ghouls from the poster. They were directed to sit off to the side and Kaneki kept glancing at the door.

"Don't look at it too much," Touka said. "It's an RC Detector."

"A what?" Kaneki asked.

"It detects the level of RC cells in a body," Touka said. "If the body has too high a concentration, the sensor will go off. At that point, the CCG has the authority to detain the individual without consent. Fortunately, they're pretty rare. Usually only the CCG offices have them."

Kaneki nodded. That was a dangerous piece of machinery. Finally, a bright cheerful woman sat before them, holding a clipboard and a pen.

"Hello," she beamed. "I heard you two had some information?"

"Yes," Touka said, introducing them both by their code names. "I was walking by the river over beside Kasahara Elementary and I saw a mother and daughter walking along beside it. I didn't think anything of it until I noticed that there was some blood on the back of the mother's shirt beside a hole."

The woman's face lit up instantly as she jotted down the information. "Thank you so much! That will be so very helpful! Don't worry, these nasty ghouls will be dead before you know it."

"Why do the ghouls have to die?" Kaneki asked before he could stop himself.

"Oh that's an easy one silly," the woman said. "They want to wipe us out, so it's only natural that we exterminate them first. Besides, they're not human so it's perfectly fine that they all die. It's not like they have emotions. Ghouls are just heartless monsters."

Kaneki grit his teeth, noticing the subtle tensing in Touka's hand. "What if we're wrong about them, though. "What if they actually do have emotions. What if they kill us simply because they have to in order to survive? And because we kill them?"

"Oh, I get it," the girl smiled. "You're one of those kids who thinks ghouls are cool. Well, to each their own, I suppose. Although you're totally wrong. If ghouls weren't heartless monsters, they wouldn't kill anyone."

Kaneki sighed, standing. "We should get going. We need to get to cram school. Thank you for your time."

"No thank you!" the woman beamed. "Come back if you have any more information."

Kaneki bowed and turned to leave just as the investigators he had met twice now stepped into the building. The older one glanced at them as panic began to set in.

"And who might you be?" the man asked.

"Oh, uh, I'm Kanemoto," Kaneki lied. "Sorry, we need to go."

"You came to pass off some information right?" the man asked, a grin growing over his face. "Come and tell us directly. We'll just need to head a bit deeper into the building, where it's more private."

He indicated a door only reachable by passing through the RC scanner. Kaneki began to refuse but the man grabbed his arm with surprising strength, dragging him toward it. Kaneki tried to pull away but the man was a lot stronger than he looked. Panic began to set in even more. He felt his body preparing to unleash his Kagane but he fought it back just as he passed through the scanner. He froze, waiting. Silence.

"Huh?" the man asked, staring at the gate.

"Look, I'm sorry but we're late for Cram school!" Touka was saying. "Let's go Kanemoto!"

Kaneki sprinted after her, vaulting over the low wall to the right of the gate, running after her. Once they were a ways away from the building, they slowed to a stop, both breathing hard as they leaned on the wall.

"That was way too close," Touka said. "Thank god you're half human still."

"Agreed," Kaneki said. "So, what's next?"

"Let's head back to the train station and change back," Touka said. "Then let's head back to Anteiku. I need to show you something. And it's where we're going to start training you harder."

Kaneki nodded and they walked back to the train, both changing into normal clothes, Kaneki starting with his eyepatch. Then, they walked to Anteiku. Touka led him downstairs to the training facility, then to a hatch in the floor. From there, it was a short ladder climb down to a tunnel system.

"What is this place?" Kaneki asked.

"It's where ghouls used to live," Touka said. "And if things continue the way they are now, and the Doves get more RC scanners to put in every shop and business in the city, it's where the ghouls will live again."

Kaneki nodded just before Touka smashed her foot into his side, launching him. He flipped, landing on his feet just before she punched him, lifting him off the ground then kicking him again.

"Fight back!" she snapped.

He stood, adopting a combat stance only for her to appear beside him, instantly throwing him away again. He landed hard and she stopped in front of him, lifting his index finger on his right hand until it was pressing against the bottom of her foot.

"Your Kagane activates when you're in danger," Touka said. "If you don't activate it, I'll break your finger...Three...Two...One..."

 _CRACK!_

Kaneki screamed in pain, pulling his hand back, his finger touching the back of his hand.

"That will set by tomorrow," Touka said, extending her Kagane. "This one, won't. There's no point in training unless it's as though it were real."

Her wing crystalized and he swallowed. She wouldn't, would she? Apparently, she would, because a moment later, it fired several crystals. Kaneki felt his tentacles extend, but instead of blocking the crystals like he expected, they smashed them and drove themselves at Touka. They weren't large, in fact they bordered on withered husks, but they were sharp and pointed.

Kaneki held his hand out, grunting in effort as they tentacles halted their instinctive stab, hovering a few inches from Touka, who blinked in surprise at not being attacked.

"I can't," Kaneki said, arm falling. "I won't."

"That's all you could make?" Touka asked. "That's no help at all."

"I'm sorry," Kaneki said.

"It's fine," Touka sighed. "We'll work on it. For now, let's call it a day. your finger should be healed by tomorrow."

Kaneki nodded and Touka helped him stand, the two of them leaving the area and heading home.

* * *

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	10. Chapter 10

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Search And Rescue

Kaneki stared at Touka's newspaper in silence. The police officer who Touka had killed was on one of the pages, along with the general statement that it was a ghoul-related crime. Kaneki dropped his eyes from the newspaper and picked up a tray of coffee, delivering it to its table before walking back, glancing at the paper again.

"Do you have a problem with me reading this at work?" Touka asked.

"No," Kaneki said. "It's just..."

"What, the cop?" Touka asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

"How much longer can we stall before we have to deal with them?" Kaneki asked. "We're obviously going to have to. So how long until then?"

"I'm not sure," Touka sighed. "Long enough, I hope. Have you been practicing?"

"Yes," Kaneki nodded. "I feel like I'm getting closer, but I'm still not there yet."

Touka nodded, pushing off the counter. "I'm going to take Hinami and Ryoko a cup of coffee. Can you handle things down here for a minute?"

"I've got it," Kaneki nodded.

Touka nodded and made two cups, Kaneki opening the door for her. She walked upstairs and he shut the door, returning to work. A few minutes later, Touka returned and began to work again. The cafe remained relatively empty for the most part, Hide showing up for a cup of coffee at one point, but he didn't stay long. Finally, the time came for them to close the shop and Kaneki flipped the sign, beginning to clean up.

"Alright, I'm going to go check on Hinami and Ryoko," Touka said, Kaneki nodding, setting his broom down.

"I'll come too," Kaneki said. "Hinami probably has a few words she wants me to teach her."

Touka smiled and nodded just as the door upstairs burst open, Ryoko staring at them, eyes wide with panic.

"What happened?" Kaneki asked.

"Hinami's gone!" Ryoko said. "All I could find was my newspaper open to the article about the police officer."

Kaneki and Touka didn't even hesitate. They both sprinted out of the shop, spreading out to search for her. Kaneki sprinted along the road toward where they had fought the investigator with the whip. As he was nearing the river, his phone rang so he slowed to a stop, answering.

"Hello?" Kaneki asked.

"Kaneki, it's Touka. I found Hinami."

"That's great!" Kaneki smiled. "Where are you? I'll come meet up with you."

"We're near the river by Kasahara elementary school," Touka said.

"Alright," Kaneki said. "I'll be right there. Is she okay?"

"She's-"

The phone went dead. Kaneki stopped, staring at the phone. Maybe hers had just died.

"That's at the Kasahara river we just left isn't it?" a voice asked off to Kaneki's left, Kaneki turning to see the younger of the two investigators they kept meeting below them. "I'll be right there! Just hold on!"

 _Kasahara,_ Kaneki thought, eyes widening. "Touka!"

He looked in the direction of the river, then at the investigator. It would only take a couple of minutes for him to reach Touka. And Kaneki suspected the other one was already there.

 _Dammit!_ Kaneki swore, pulling his mask on quickly before leaping over the railing and landing in front of the investigator, who slowed to a stop. "I can't let you go there. I'm sorry."

"You," the investigator growled. "Eyepatch." He opened his attache case, the metal pole with the cylinder on it expanding from inside, miraculously. "I'm going to make you pay for what you two did!"

"I don't want to fight you," Kaneki said. "I don't want to hurt anyone. All I want is peace between humans and ghouls. There has to be a better way than this. Not all ghouls are killers. The Fueguchi family is one of those."

"What do you mean?" the investigator asked.

"They don't kill," Kaneki said. "They get their meat from humans who end their own lives. Neither Fueguchi has ever hurt anyone. And it's bullshit that ghouls don't have emotions. We do. But we're painted as evil and slaughtered for no reason. How would you feel if someone killed someone you love simply because of what they were?"

The investigator's hands gripped his weapon tighter.

"You already know that pain," Kaneki realized. "Then you should understand that much, at least. And you'll understand why I can't let you go to Kasahara river."

The investigator stared at him for a moment before growling in rage. "I won't let your words deceive me! I'll kill you for what you did to Kusaba!"

He charged at Kaneki, swiping at him rapidly, Kaneki evading and flipping out of the way of each strike. Finally, Kaneki leapt backward, flipping and landing a distance from the investigator. He sighed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his emergency meat package. He opened the zipper of his mask's mouth, allowing him to pull it out of the way.

"I really didn't want to do this," Kaneki sighed. "I despise eating meat. But I have to protect her."

He quickly shoved the meat into his mouth, chewing for a moment before swallowing it almost whole, the dull ache that he had gotten used to almost completely vanishing as he zipped his mask closed again.

"I'll give you one last warning, investigator," Kaneki said. "Leave this place."

"I will not!" the investigator spat.

Kaneki nodded, focussing on the small of his back until, finally, his tentacles burst out of it, all four of them, all of them thick and useful at long last. The investigator stared at him in utter shock.

"But...you had an...two?" the investigator blinked.

"Are you ready," Kaneki asked.

The investigator shook his head, rolling his shoulders back and charging again. This time, as he swung his quinque at Kaneki, Kaneki dove under it, two of his tentacles slamming into it, knocking it into the air. Kaneki rolled to his feet, swinging his hands forward, all four tentacles shooting forward and blasting into the quinque, making the investigator stagger backward. Then, the investigator lunged, swiping at Kaneki only for two of Kaneki's tentacles to slam the quinque into the ground. Then, Kaneki sent all four at it, blasting it away, making the investigator spin away from Kaneki. The investigator recovered well, turning the spin into a strike. Kaneki leapt over it, landing just as the investigator raised the weapon. Kaneki looked at it, spotting the cracks he had formed and launched all four tentacles again. This time, when they blasted into the quinque, it exploded, chunks of it clattering to the ground around the investigator, who stared at the broken handle, eyes wide. Two of Kaneki's tentacles streaked toward him again but Kaneki's arm snapped up, a loud grunt of effort ringing out as he halted their strike, both tentacles hovering in front of the investigator's chest.

"Leave!" Kaneki growled. "Fighting makes ghouls hungry, and right now you smell delicious. Please. Get away before I have to eat you."

The investigator simply stared at him.

"LEAVE! ! !" he shouted.

The investigator seemed to be shaken out of his trance because he took a couple steps backward before turning, fleeing from the area, taking the quinque's handle with him. Kaneki sighed, the tentacles retracting into his back before he turned, sprinting toward where Touka had said she was. He felt like he was moving too slow, but finally he found himself running under a bridge where there was a massive amount of damage and a lot of blood.

Just as he arrived, the older investigator leapt toward Hinami, one leg and hand missing, and swung his whip at her, only for Touka to fall past him, slitting his throat. He crashed down, blood flooding out of his throat, and Kaneki walked over, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"You're hurt," Kaneki said, noting the blood coating Touka's side.

"I'll heal," Touka said.

"I...can't...die!" the investigator lying beside them suddenly rasped, trying to crawl toward them. "Not...until...I get...my revenge! I will...kill...the owl!"

He reached out toward Kaneki's leg but collapsed. Touka glared at him but Kaneki wrapped an arm around her, turning her away and guiding her to Hinami, helping her up just as Yomo arrived, walking over to them, not even bothering to look at the investigator.

"You're all okay," Yomo noted. "Good. Let's go home."

Hinami nodded, drying her eyes and climbing onto Yomo's back. Kaneki glanced at Touka who rolled her eyes, wrapping an arm around his shoulders to support herself as she limped after Yomo, Kaneki supporting her. She glanced at him as his stomach rumbled and he winced but remained silent.

"You fought the other one, didn't you?" Touka asked.

"Yeah," Kaneki nodded. "I managed to make my tentacles form on command after I ate the meat Yomo gave me. Then I broke his quinque."

"Impressive," Touka nodded. "That's a powerful kagune."

"I agree," Kaneki nodded.

They fell silent until they reached Yomo's car, climbing in. Yomo drove them back to Anteiku. They all headed upstairs where Yomo got both Touka and Kaneki some meat, Kaneki eating it before he had time to think about what kind of meat it was. Once they had eaten, Yomo bandaged Touka's side for her while Kaneki tucked Hinami into bed. Then, Kaneki returned to the other room, sitting down and sighing.

"Are you okay?" Yomo asked.

"I'm fine," Kaneki said. "It's just been a long night."

"Yeah," Touka agreed. "And we have work tomorrow."

Kaneki groaned, tipping his head back and covering his face with his hands.

"You can stay here, if it'll make it easier," Yomo offered.

"Sure," Kaneki nodded. "Thanks."

Yomo nodded and stood, leading Kaneki to a spare room then getting him some spare sheets and a pillow. Kaneki got his bed laid out and within minutes he was asleep.

* * *

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	11. Chapter 11

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Break In

Kaneki set the broom aside, sighing. It had been a pretty busy day, but thankfully it was almost over. In another twenty minutes, they'd be able to close up. he glanced at Touka. They hadn't spoken about what had happened with the investigators in the last few days since it happened. They also hadn't trained since, though Yomo continued to train him. He had finally learned to use his Kagune on command, though in order to continue being able to, he had to continue to eat. He wasn't as excited about that.

The bell sounded as the door swung open and he turned, seeing a tall muscular man with a beard that was a strip of hair curling around his chin almost into a circle walking in, three people behind him roughly Kaneki's height and all wearing trench coats and gas masks.

"Welcome to Anteiku," Kaneki greeted.

"Is the shop manager here?" the man asked.

"Um, not right now no," Kaneki said. "He had to leave on some business."

"if you have some business here, I can get you a cup of coffee while you wait," Touka offered.

The man turned to look at Touka and instantly shouted in surprise, recoiling, only to stare for a moment before composing himself.

"Oh, it's a girl," he mumbled, Kaneki blinking in confusion and looking to Touka, who looked just as confused, and and decidedly more annoyed.

"If you want I could pass along a message," Kaneki offered.

"There's just something I need to ask him," the man said. "I suppose I could ask you two as well. Do you know Rize Kamishiro?"

 _Rize,_ Kaneki thought. _Why's he asking about Rize? Who is this guy, a ghoul investigator?_ He looked to Touka, who shook her head, seeming to know what he was thinking.

"We'll talk in back," Touka said, walking to the door and opening it, letting the guests in before walking in as well, Kaneki following after flipping the sign to closed.

Kaneki sat beside Touka, watching the four guests carefully.

"Show us your eyes," Touka said.

The man sighed, closing his eyes before opening them again, the sclera now black with red irises. "Is this good enough?"

"Yes," Touka nodded.

"My name's Banjou," the man said. "I was in the eleventh ward with Rize."

"I see," Touka nodded. "She came here a while back."

"I knew it!" Banjou grinned, punching his hand. "Where is she now?"

"I don't know," Touka shrugged. "She just disappeared one day."

"I see," Banjou nodded, looking to Kaneki, seeing the conflicted look on his face. "You got something to say kid?"

"Oh, uh, no," Kaneki said. "Nothing."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Banjou growled, dragging him up by the front of his shirt. "Ya know, I've heard rumors of a kid with an eyepatch that showed up here about the time Rize disappeared. Could be a coincidence. Or maybe you did something to Rize."

"Did you ever meet Rize?" Kaneki asked. "How could I do anything to her?"

"So you _did_ know her!" Banjou snarled. "Tell me where she is!"

"I don't know!" Kaneki said. "I swear!"

"Stop lying to me!" Banjou said, pulling a fist back.

"Boss!" one of the three ghouls wearing a gas mask said.

"No violence in the shop!" Touka shouted.

As he punch flew at Kaneki, Kaneki used one arm to knock Banjou's grip on his shirt loose, the other hand deflecting the punch to the side as Kaneki spun behind Banjou. Then, Kaneki slammed an elbow into the back of his head, dropping him instantly.

"Oops," Kaneki winced. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."

He stared at Banjou in surprise as Banjou was now unconscious.

"We're really sorry about him," one of the other three said. "He's always been like this. It probably would have been worse if he had thought you were Rize's girlfriend."

Kaneki nodded, he and the ghouls with the gas masks lifting Banjou onto the couch while Touka got him a blanket and pillow. "He really cares about Rize, huh?"

"He's in love with her," one of the ghouls said. "So, how _do_ you know her?"

"She tried to kill me," Kaneki said, all three staring at her. "She thought I was a human because apparently I smell like one, so she tried to eat me."

"How did you survive?" one of the ghouls asked.

"I fought back," Kaneki said. "Once she saw I was a ghoul, she just left."

Banjou's followers remained silent and Kaneki sat down, sighing. Touka left with the three ghouls, offering to make them coffee. Kaneki remained in the room with Banjou in case he woke up and decided he wanted to keep fighting. Finally, his eyes opened and he sat up, looking around and glaring at Kaneki.

"Before you try to fight me again, please allow me to explain," Kaneki said, Banjou nodding. "I'm only a half-ghoul. I wear this eyepatch because I can't control my left eye from turning red. Before I met Rize, I didn't even know what I was. For all intents and purposes, I was human. I could eat human food, I didn't have a red eye. Then one day, Rize asked if I'd walk her home on account of the ghoul attacks, which I later found out were her. I agreed and she led me to a deserted area where she tried to attack me. Except, when she did, something happened to me to make my ghoul half wake up, and I fought back. I caught her by surprise, but I didn't hurt her very badly, given it was Rize. Then...she left."

Banjou stared at him in silence before nodding.

"Okay," Banjou nodded. "I believe you. Thank you for telling me. Do you know where Rize is now?"

"I...no," Kaneki said. "I never saw her again after she attacked me."

"I see," Banjou said. "I guess she really is a fickle person after all. I'm sorry for the trouble she caused you. And I'm sorry for attacking you. I had thought maybe you killed her somehow."

"No, I'm sorry," Kaneki said. "I wish I could help."

Banjou nodded before sighing. "If you see her again, can you give her a message? Tell her...to run away."

"Run away?" Kaneki asked. "From what?"

"I was in charge of the eleventh ward until recently," Banjou said. "But then, a group called the Aogiri Tree, came in and seized control. Anyone who tried to fight against them they slaughtered until we finally submitted. Then, once they had taken over, they went after the doves. I thought it was insane, but soon, they had slaughtered too many doves to count. Their leader is said to be a man who sheds neither blood nor tears. And for whatever reason, that guy is looking for Rize. I'm sure he wants to do something awful to her. And I don't mean to offend you, but you all should probably run as well. Soon, Aogiri will come to the twentieth ward as well. And when they do, they'll kill you all. Or, would you all submit to their rules?"

"We wouldn't," Kaneki said. "Thank you for the warning."

Just then, the window beside them shattered and someone wearing black pants and jacket with a purple scarf and blue hair leapt off of the window sill, kicking at Banjou. Banjou managed to get his arms up to block it only for his right forearm to snap like a twig. As Banjou crumpled to the floor in agony, the person who kicked him stood over him, glaring at him in disgust.

"You sure do talk a lot, Banjou," the boy said, looking to the door as it swung open, Banjou's friends rushing in. "Do you want me to beat you until you're vomiting blood again?"

"Banjou are you being violent aga-" the ghoul stopped short, seeing the boy, then Banjou on the ground. "A-Ayato! What are you doing here?"

The three rushed to Banjou's side as Kaneki stared at Ayato, remembering seeing that name on the plaque beside the door to Touka's room.

"That idiot wouldn't answer his cell phone," Ayato said. "Besides, all of the twentieth ward's information is stored here. So I came here to collect it."

Just then, the door burst open, Touka stepping through and staring at Ayato in shock.

"Ayato," Touka breathed.

"Long time no see, sister," Ayato sneered, glaring wickedly at her.

"Well well, you certainly took your time Ayato," a voice said from behind Touka.

She turned, staring as a man even bigger than Banjou with a flat face and blonde hair combed back wearing a white suit entered just behind a skinny man who was slightly shorter, with lime green sunglasses on his head, lipstick, earrings, a purple shirt with flowers on it, a belt with a smily face for a buckle, and skinny jeans.

"So you were already here were you, Yamori?" Ayato asked.

"All thanks to Nico," Yamori said. "His nose can follow a scent anywhere."

"Rize's not here," Banjou said. "What use is it for you to come here?"

"Simple," Yamori said. "We heard rumors of a ghoul with Rize's Kagune. So we're here to capture that ghoul."

"Her Kagune?" Banjou blinked. "That's impossible. Right?"

Yamori grinned, slamming the back of his forearm into Touka, launching her away. Kaneki extended his tentacles instantly, catching her and pulling her to himself, setting her down before sighing.

"Guess there's no point in hiding it, then," Kaneki said. "Yeah, I've got the same Kagune as Rize. I just don't know how."

"You have..." Banjou stared at him.

"Well then," Yamori grinned. "You'll have to come with us."

"I don't think so," Kaneki said. "You see, I have to work again tomorrow."

Yamori's eyes narrowed and he pressed his finger down with his thumb, cracking it loudly enough that Kaneki thought he might have broken it. "That's not an option brat. You're coming with us. And if you try to resist, we'll just fuck up your pretty little friend."

"Just try it," Kaneki snarled, crouching.

Yamori grinned, appearing in front of Kaneki and kicking him aside. Just as he reached for Touka, however, two of Kaneki's tentacles crashing into his chest, launching him backward into the wall. He crashed into it hard, a sadistic grin spreading from his face. He stood, a pair of dark blue, spiked tails extended from his back and Kaneki shot forward, sending out his tentacles only for Yamori to appear behind him, catching him by the base of his tentacles. A moment later, Kaneki's eyes widened as one of Yamori's tails shredded the base of the tentacles, removing them, and the other drove itself through his abdomen. Kaneki staggered forward, dropping to his knees and looking back as Touka leapt at Yamori. Kaneki looked to Ayato just as Ayato darted over to stand in front of Yamori. Kaneki shoved himself to his feet, forcing himself to move. Ayato's wings extended, two of them as opposed to Touka's one. Then, they crystalized, a wall of shards flying at Touka. Kaneki jumped, crossing his arms in front of his face and pulling his legs up. A moment later, his back crashed into Touka and both crashed to the ground, the crystals now sticking out of Kaneki's arms, legs, and torso disintegrating as Touka stared at him in shock.

"Well well, you're pretty quick," Ayato said.

"Enough," Kaneki said, gritting his teeth as he stood, blood running from his wounds, pooling on the ground. "I'll go. If you leave Touka unharmed, I'll go with you."

"I see," Ayato said, staring at Kaneki before smirking. "Fine. I don't really give a shit about her one way or the other anyway, so yeah. We'll let her live."

Kaneki nodded, turning to Touka.

"Kaneki, you can't," Touka said, Kaneki smiling.

"I'll be fine," Kaneki said. "I'll be back soon. I promise."

Then, he turned, walking to Yamori's side. Touka began to stand but Kaneki sent a tentacle out, sweeping her legs out from under her. Then, he retracted the tentacle and followed Yamori and the others out of the shop.

* * *

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	12. Chapter 12

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters. **_WARNING:_** I'm going into a lot more detail than the anime or manga did, also going off of what I think happened off-panel, given the picture of the areas Kaneki's Rc pathways had regrown his body. **_VERY DARK CHAPTER! ! !_**

* * *

Hell

Yamori grinned at Kaneki as Kaneki stared blankly back.

"Did you hear me?" Ayato slammed his foot into the back of Kaneki's head, slamming it into the ground. "I said, are you willing to be useful?"

"If it wasn't for our agreement, I'd be tearing you apart piece by piece right now," Kaneki snarled. "That, and you're her brother. You're lucky. I won't kill you. But I swear to God, if you don't take your goddamn foot off my head, I'll remove it, along with something beside it."

"Tch," Ayato rolled his eyes, picking his foot up. "Fine. I suppose there's no other choice then. Yamori. All yours."

Yamori grinned sadistically, picking up Kaneki by the top of his head. "Excellent. Nico. Let's go test out our new toy."

Kaneki's eyes widened as Yamori carried him away from Ayato, Nico following. They made their way through a massive compound before entering a large silo-like building with a white and black checkered floor inside. Seated in the center of it was a chair with a corpse strapped into it, nails and chains all through it. In front of the corpse was a bucket filled with fingers and toes.

"That's my last toy," Yamori grinned. "I accidentally broke him, but I have a feeling I won't be breaking you quite as quickly."

Kaneki said nothing as Yamori removed the corpse. Then, Kaneki sat in the chair silently, allowing Yamori to strap him in. Yamori grinned.

"You're very compliant," Yamori commented, pulling a syringe out of his jacket. "Do you know what Rc Suppressant is?"

"No," Kaneki said.

"It's a chemical that blocks all functions of a kagune, leaving a ghoul essentially the same as a human," Yamori explained. "The only problem is, no syringe can pierce the flesh of a ghoul. For a while, that caused the suppressor to be useless. Then, finally, someone figured out a way to make it work. The needle just needed to be injected...INTO A MUCUS MEMBRANE! ! !" Yamori drove the needle into Kaneki's left eye as he shouted this.

Kaneki screamed in agony as the needle entered his eye, liquid fire flooding him almost instantly from the needle, making his body convulse in its restraints. Finally, the pain began to subside slightly, his awareness of the outside world returning. As it did, Kaneki's head lulled to the side, his one functional eye staring at the cart Yamori hd brought over, several tools laid out on it. Pliers, knives, scalpels, scissors, wire cutters, one pair of pliers that seemed to have a bolt cutter blade between the pivot point and the plier's teeth at the end.

"So, shall we begin?" Yamori grinned, walking over to Kaneki, dragging the tray with him. "I'm going to pick, cut, pull, and pry at you until you break. But you had better not make this boring. if you do, I'll have to find another toy to replace you."

And with that, Yamori drove a knife hilt deep into Kaneki's abdomen. Kaneki screamed, blood flying out of his mouth before the knife was ripped out and driven into his thigh instead. Again it was ripped out and driven into his other thigh. Then out again. Kaneki's vision had flared white and remained there, making it impossible for him to see exactly what was driven through his hand, but something was.

He felt his body jerk and convulse as something hard and round was driven down through the back of his hand, staking it to the chair's arm. Liquid fire shot through him, robbing him of his breath. He could hear himself screaming but he couldn't feel it. He couldn't feel his thighs or abdomen either. Only the stake through his hand and the damage to his eye. Then, his other hand joined the group with a similar pain.

Yamori stepped back, grinning as he observed his work. A short metal rod held both hands in place, even more so than the wrist straps. He grinned before holding a railroad stake over Kaneki's right foot, raising a mallet. Then, he swung downward, Kaneki screaming in agony as the stake drove itself down through his foot. Yamori picked up another stake, doing the same to Kaneki's other foot. As Kaneki sat there, screaming and thrashing involuntarily, Yamori laughed.

"Yes, that's it!" Yamori laughed. "Scream!"

After several seconds, Kaneki finally fell limp, panting, tears rolling down his face.

"Can you hear me Kaneki?" Yamori asked. "I want you to do something for me. I want you to count backward from a thousand in sets of seven. Let's try it, shall we?"

Kaneki didn't respond, and Yamori's eyes narrowed. He backhanded the side of Kaneki's head, hard.

"Don't disappoint me, brat!" Yamori spat. "Or do you want me to just kill you already and go and get a new toy?"

Kaneki slowly raised his head, looking up at Yamori in silence for a moment. "One th...thousand. Nine hundred ninety three."

"Good," Yamori grinned. "Keep going. And no matter what, don't stop!"

He picked up the pliers with the blade and grinned, reaching to Kaneki's hand. He slid the pliers to the first knuckle on Kaneki's left pinky. Kaneki's eyes widened just before Yamori squeezed. A loud crack filled the room followed instantly with an ear-splitting scream of agony. Yamori began to laugh, setting the pliers down and picking up the piece of finger, dropping it into a bucket. Then, he grinned what was left of the finger.

"Count!" he shouted.

"N-N-Nine...hund-dred...n-n-ninety...e-e-e-eighty...s-six!" Kaneki counted, correcting himself partway through.

Yamori grinned, yanking upward, breaking Kaneki's finger backward, Kaneki screaming. Yamori gripped his next finger. Kaneki said the next number.

 _Crack!_

Another number.

 _Crack!_

Another.

 _Crack!_

This continued until all of Kaneki's fingers were broken at the base. Yamori grinned, moving back to the first pinky. Kaneki managed to force out another number. Yamori gripped the finger at the second knuckle and twisted, breaking the digit backward at that knuckle as well. Kaneki screamed louder than before. The rest of the fingers followed similarly, Kaneki's screams getting louder and more hysteric, more desperate, as each knuckle broke. When the second knuckles were broken, Yamori started on the third knuckles that remained. Finally, he ran out of finger knuckles.

He released Kaneki's last finger, staring at Kaneki, who remained in the chair, sobbing, crying out in pain every few seconds as the heartbeat in his fingers made them throb agonizingly. Yamori smiled, picking up another set of pliers, gripping one of Kaneki's fingernails with it. Kaneki began to scream even before Yamori pulled. A wet tearing sound filled the air for a half second before Kaneki's screams drowned it out. Then, Yamori grinned, dropping the fingernail in the bucket.

"Oh yes!" Yamori grinned. "This is so much fun! Who said you could stop counting!?"

Kaneki began to sob and scream out numbers, none of them even remotely correct, but enough to keep Yamori satisfied. And so, with each number Kaneki said, Kaneki lost a fingernail. When Yamori was out of those, he moved to Kaneki's toes, first removing the toe nails, then breaking each toe knuckle. Yamori felt his bloodlust rising, the urge to kill Kaneki quickly swallowing him.

"Nico!" Yamori snapped.

The ghoul walked over to him, Yamori driving his hand through Nico's abdomen instantly before grinning, turning back to Kaneki.

"Almost lost it there," Yamori grinned. "Your screams are just so exciting that I almost couldn't help myself. Now, where were we?"

He picked up his bladed pliers again and moved it to Kaneki's ring finger, squeezing and removing the end of it, as he had his pinky. Kaneki screamed anew. The next finger in line was similarly shortened. Then the next. When Yamori reached the end of the line, he started back the other way, one knuckle lower. Then, back the other way, this time level with Kaneki's hand. Then, he moved to Kaneki's toes, giving them identical treatment. Finally he stood, setting his pliers down and grinning down at Kaneki.

"Did you break yet?" Yamori asked, listening.

After a moment, Kaneki began to count, starting at one thousand. Yamori began to laugh gleefully.

"Oh yes! This is going to be fun!" He picked up several knives, driving them into random places on Kaneki's body, Kaneki screaming in agony as he did. Then, Yamori lifted Kaneki's head, driving his fingers into Kaneki's good eye, ripping it out before letting Kaneki's head fall. He laughed wickedly as Kaneki screamed. Then, he sighed, dropping the eye into the bucket with the rest of the limbs.

"I think that's enough for now, don't you Kaneki?" Yamori grinned. "I'll go and get you something to eat. That way you can start healing. I'll be back in an hour or so."

He gripped a knife, yanking it from Kaneki's mid thigh out through the side of Kaneki's knee before setting it down and walking away.

* * *

Yamori snipped the last finger segment, dropping it into the bucket and grinning. Kaneki fell still after several minutes of screaming, the only movement being the heaving of his chest and his entire body shaking as he sobbed. Yamori waited, and sure enough, Kaneki began to sob out numbers after a minute. Yamori grinned.

"Man, I just can't break you," Yamori said. "Alright. let's try something new!"

He grabbed Kaneki's shirt and tore it off, tossing it aside before ripping his pants off as well, leaving him bare. Then, he picked turned to his tools.

"Which should I start with Kaneki?" Yamori asked. "Pliers? Nice and quick. No? Alright, how about a steak knife? That could be fun. Not good enough? My my, and people call me sadistic. Alright. I have just the thing then."

He grinned, picking up an angle grinder connected to an extension cord and grinned.

"This should work, shouldn't it?" Yamori asked.

Kaneki began to thrash, screaming as Yamori walked toward him, begging him not to do what he knew he was about to do. But Yamori's sadistic smile only grew. Then, Kaneki squeezed his eyes closed, hearing the angle grinder come screaming to life, only to be drowned out by Kaneki's own scream as it made contact. A wet tearing sound joined the twin screams before the shrill sound of metal on metal screeched several times as the angle grinder met the metal frame of the chair. Finally, the angle grinder slowed to a stop, falling silent only for Kaneki's scream to seem to grow louder still to fill the void. Yamori dropped the grinder on the tray again, grinning.

"That was amazing!" Yamori grinned. "And only a third of the way done too! What's next? Knives? Cheese grater? Yes, you're right Kaneki!" He picked up a meat tenderizer. "This should be perfect!"

Kaneki's scream rose anew, jumping sharply with each stroke of the hammer.

 _Bang!_ _Bang!_ _Bang!_ _Bang!_

Finally, Yamori set the hammer aside, reaching down and scraping the goo that remained off the chair into the bucket, laughing psychotically. "So much fun! Nico!"

Nico walked over, stopping beside him as Yamori drove both hands through Nico's torso. Then, he pulled them back and Nico's body stitched itself back together. Then, Yamori turned, beginning to laugh again as he walked out of the room.

* * *

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	13. Chapter 13

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters. I liked the idea of a couple more than mother-and-child. At least, for my story, it's more fitting. And yes, Kaneki was tortured for double the amount of time as in the manga in this story.

* * *

Free

Screams echoed through the room, mixed with Yamori's laugh. The Chinese Red-headed Centipede tore at the inside of Kaneki's ear. Finally, it seemed to settle, because it stopped moving. Kaneki's screams died down to sobbing cries of pain, the centipede's venom still making his entire head feel as though lava was coursing through it.

"So even this won't break you completely, huh?" Yamori grinned. "When you started laughing before, I thought for sure I had broken you, but it seems I was wrong. Tell you what. I've got a new idea. If I can't break you physically, I'll give you another chance to be useful. Nico, bring them in."

Nico opened the door, a pair of ghouls being shoved in, who Nico promptly picked up and carried over. A male and female ghoul, a couple, who had been tasked with cleaning and feeding Kaneki in between torture sessions. They were friends of Banjou, and they had promised to help him escape, on Banjou's orders, supposedly.

"What, you didn't really think they could save you, did you?" Yamori laughed. "But I promised you could be useful! Here's your chance! These two are traitors to Aogiri. They have to be punished, and the punishment is death! But I know you're a good person, so I'll let you choose which one I spare. The boy? Or the girl? Choose. Choose! CHOOSE! ! ! CHOOSE BEFORE I KILL BOTH! ! !"

The boy began to thrash against the chains binding him, shouting behind his gag for Kaneki to choose him. The girl doing the same.

"I...I can't..."

"Choose Kaneki!" Yamori shouted. "The guy! The girl! Right! Left! Just pick one!"

"I can't!" Kaneki shouted.

"Fine, I'll show you how it's done!" Yamori shouted, grabbing the girl by the throat, lifting her. "How about this, do you like my choice!? You can still save her! Just let me know!"

"Stop! Please! Don't hurt them!"

"You can still save one Kaneki!" Yamori shouted. "Hurry up and choose or I'll go and pay a visit to that bitch at the coffee shop next!"

Kaneki's eyes widened as he stared at Yamori. Suddenly, it wasn't some stranger he was holding. It was Touka. Kaneki felt something inside of him snap. He screamed in rage, tentacles exploding out of his back alongside his wing, obliterating the chair and shattering the chains holding him, the force of them all breaking free also shoving him to an upright position, Kaneki landing lightly on his feet as his tentacles shot outward, one wrapping around the girl, another slamming into Yamori's fingers and breaking them, then a third crashing into his side, hurling him away. Kaneki set her on her feet, the girl coughing and falling to her knees as Kaneki's tentacles broke the chains on both of them.

"Get out of here," Kaneki said.

"The CCG is assaulting this place," the guy said. "Be careful leaving."

"You too," Kaneki said. "I'll deal with Yamori."

The two ghouls nodded, standing and sprinting away as Yamori stood, turning to Kaneki.

"I see, so you've still got some fight in you after all," Yamori grinned, breaking his index finger and grinning. "Alright. Let's go! I've already gained true power by eating ghouls! You'll make an excellent snack!"

His tails shot out of his back at Kaneki, but Kaneki wrapped two tentacles around them and turned, hurling Yamori across the room into the wall. Then, before Yamori had even begun to fall, Kaneki's wing crystalized, firing spikes into Yamori rapidly, blood splattering across the ground as it stake him to the wall. After a moment, Yamori roared in rage, the shards shattering and allowing him to drop to the ground before he shot toward Kaneki, both tails shooting out to impale Kaneki. Kaneki ducked under it, catching Yamori's hand as he reached for him and twisting his arm as he spun, dislocating his shoulder before shattering his elbow as well. He hurled Yamori again and Yamori crashed down, rage boiling out of him. He stood, shaking with rage as he glared at Kaneki. Then, he was in front of Kaneki. Kaneki threw a kick at him but Yamori caught it, grinning wickedly.

"Now how will you-"

Kaneki spun, his ankle shattering as his skin shredded itself, bones and muscles sticking out of the tears. His other heel crashed into the side of Yamori's head, launching him away, and Yamori exploded into the wall, Kaneki landing on his feet.

"After everything you did to me, you think this would hurt me?" Kaneki asked.

Suddenly, the dust blew away from where Yamori had landed, leaving him changed. His suit was ruined and his kagune seemed to have spread over his body, parts of it reaching up to cover the top half of his face, down to the sides of his mouth, parts of it now encasing his right arm, parts encasing his torso like armor. He roared and Kaneki shot forward, ducking under a swipe from Yamori's arm. He shot his tentacles out, stabbing Yamori through the gut. Before he could do much else, however, Yamori's hand retracted then drove itself through his abdomen. He grabbed the arm, trying to pull it out of him only for Yamori to flick it, sending him crashing into the wall. Kaneki stood, the hole in his abdomen sealing itself. He stared at Yamori, seeing that the wound he had given him had also already healed. He grit his teeth and shot forward, his tentacles flattening and sharpening as he did. Yamori shot forward to meet him and Kaneki flipped over Yamori's arm then spun, removing the arm altogether before flipping, slamming a kick into Yamori's head. Before Yamori was even on the ground, Kaneki fired a blast of kagune shards at him, all of them hitting him. Then, his tentacles drove themselves down through Yamori's limbs, staking him in place and lifting Kaneki over to him. Kaneki set himself down behind Yamori and stared at him.

"You're very strong," Kaneki growled. "And you heal fast. True power by eating ghouls, huh? I wonder if eating your kagune will stop you from regenerating."

"No!" Yamori shouted. "You can't! Only the strong deserve to eat! That means me! I'm the strongest!"

"What's one thousand minus seven?" Kaneki growled, kneeling and gripping Yamori's kagune over his right shoulder, ripping the chunk off as Yamori began to count, screaming in agony each time Kaneki ripped a piece away.

Kaneki bit into a chunk and gagged. It tasted almost as bad as human food. He steeled his nerves, forcing the kagune chunks down. Again and again, he shoved handfuls of Yamori's kagune into his mouth, swallowing it as quickly as he could. Little by little, Yamori's kagune disappeared. Then, finally, Kaneki stood, pulling his tentacles free as he left Yamori lying on the floor, blood coating his body but alive.

"I'm not you," Kaneki said. "Otherwise, you and I would play for a bit. For now, I'll just leave you like this."

He turned, walking away from Yamori, slamming the door open as he left the building. As he walked away from the building, Banjou and the two ghouls he had saved from Yamori ran over.

"Kaneki!" Banjou said. "You're alive! Thank God! They told me you saved them. Thank you so much!"

"It's fine," Kaneki smiled. "I have to go now."

"Wait, we need to get out of here!" Banjou said. "The CCG is at war with Aogiri. We need to leave before-"

"I cant," Kaneki interrupted. "There's something I have to do."

"What?" Banjou asked.

"I have to save her," Kaneki said.

Then, he turned, sprinting away from them. He smashed through the wall of the building he could sense her from, finding numerous Aogiri troops on the other side. They turned to attack him, their kagune all extending only for Kaneki to slaughter them all with his wing. He turned, sprinting to the stairway leading to the roof, taking the stairs three at a time. As he was nearing the top, he found Nishio lying on the stairs, two Aogiri troops leaping at him. He used his tentacles to launch himself over, smashing both ghouls into the wall, stabbing them with two of his tentacles then hurling them back down the staircase.

"Where's Touka?" Kaneki asked.

"On the roof," Nishio said. "She's fighting Ayato."

"Let's go!" Kaneki growled.

Nishio nodded and they sprinted up the stairs to the roof, Kaneki easily and rapidly pulling ahead of Nishio, reaching the roof and freezing. Touka was on the ground in a puddle of her own blood, and Ayato was standing a short distance away, wings crystalized and Touka's blood running down his chin. Kaneki shot forward, wing spreading out to his side, allowing him to streak forward faster than he expected possible, almost as though her were flying. Ayato's wings fired a barrage of shards at Touka but it was too late. Kaneki scooped her up off of the ground, shooting out of the way of Ayato's strike and then skidding to a stop off to the side, Nishio running over and kneeling as Kaneki set Touka down gently.

"I'm so sorry Touka," Kaneki said, feeling tears welling up in his eyes. "This is all my fault."

Touka smiled, reaching up and wiping his tears away. "No, it's not. You saved me then, and now again."

Kaneki smiled, pulling his sleeve up and holding out his arm. "Bite."

Touka did as instructed, ripping a chunk out of his arm and swallowing it, her wounds sealing themselves. She was still exhausted, however, so Kaneki passed her to Nishio then stood, turning back to Ayato, gritting his teeth.

"So, you're a chimera type, huh?" Ayato asked. "That I did not see coming. The speed of an Ukaku and the power and regenerative abilities of a Rinkaku. You're dangerous. I'm going to have to kill you after all."

"Kaneki," Nishio said, holding out his mask. "In case you meet any CCG."

Kaneki accepted the mask, pulling it on and turning back to Ayato. Ayato began to fire at Kaneki and Kaneki shot forward, flipping, ducking, dodging, and blocking his way through Ayato's projectiles, firing his own back any chance he could, forcing Ayato to dodge as well. Then, finally, he dropped into a slide, getting under Ayato's stream of kagune spikes, sending out a tentacle and stabbing him in the gut, lifting him into the air as he stood. Then, he smashed him back down, blasting him through the ceiling and dropping after him. As Ayato was standing, Kaneki stabbed him in the leg, whipping him into one wall, then sending him hurtling into the opposite. As Ayato dropped to his hands and knees, Kaneki cracking his knuckle, feeling it break and mend itself instantly.

"You're fortunate that you're Touka's brother," Kaneki said. "That means I can't kill you. So instead, I'm only going to beat you half to death."

Ayato roared in rage, shooting forward, only to be blasted aside by Kaneki's tentacle.

"You're at a disadvantage here," Kaneki said. "It's a narrow space. There's no room for you to spread your wings properly. And compared to you, I excel at close quarters."

"What are you talking about?" Ayato snarled. "Close quarters...is my specialty!"

His wings extended just enough to fire at Kaneki, Ayato shooting forward instantly, kicking at Kaneki. Kaneki blocked it with his arm and Ayato folded forward, firing at Kaneki at point blank range, blasting him backward into the wall and continuing to fire, Kaneki gritting his teeth. Then, finally, Ayato stopped, allowing Kaneki to drop to the floor.

"I understand," Kaneki said. "Your specialty is speed. And you train tirelessly to get your endurance up. That way, you can dominate even at close range using your speed. Impressive. I'd have to train for a very long time to be able to do that. However, in showing me that, he exposed your secret."

"What secret?" Ayato snarled.

"Your reason for joining Aogiri," Kaneki said, pushing himself up and turning back to Ayato. "Back at the coffee shop, you interfered when Touka attacked Yamori. At first, I thought it was because you hated her."

"I do hate her!" Ayato shouted, Kaneki appearing in front of him, kicking him in the head and launching him away.

"I'm talking now so shut the fuck up," Kaneki snarled. "You don't hate her. I fought Yamori, so now I'm certain. If Touka had fought him then, she'd have died. When you attacked her, you were protecting her, weren't you?"

"You don't know what you're talk-"

Kaneki slammed all four tentacles down on his back, blasting him through the floor and sending him crashing into the ground floor, landing on top of him, tentacles pinning his limbs down. "I told you I'd beat you half to death. But what is half-death? If we consider destroying the entire body as a full death, then destroying half of it would count as a half death, correct? But, the top and bottom of a person's body aren't the same, the damage would be too different. You can still live without the bottom half of your body, but if the top half is crushed, you'll die. So next, I thought of the organs. But then I'd have think about the value of each organ. Additionally, organizing the organs is difficult. For example, let's look at the brain. Should the whole thing count as one organ? Or should I subdivide it into the cerebrum, cerebellum, and hippocampus? And then it hit me. it was the most obvious solution. Bones. The human body has two hundred six bones. If all of them are broken, the person will die. I'm not sure if ghouls have the same structure as humans, but I'd bet it's pretty close. What's more, the bones are symmetrical on the left and right sides, making splitting them in half easy. In other words, starting now, I'm going to break one hundred three of your bones."

Ayato began to try to pull away as Kaneki released his right arm, grabbing it when Ayato swung at him, lifting it.

"Let's start from the upper arm and work our way down, shall we? First, there's one bone in the upper arm called the humerus."

 _Crack!_

"The forearm is composed of two bones, on the pinky finger side is the ulna..."

 _Crack!_

"...and on the thumb side is the radius."

 _Crack!_

"The hand bones are split into three main parts. The carpus, the metacarpus, and the phalanges. There are eight bones making up the carpal group: the pisiform..."

 _Crack!_

"...triquetrum..."

 _Crack!_

"...lunate..."

 _Crack!_

"...scaphoid..."

 _Crack!_

"...hamate..."

 _Crack!_

"...capitate..."

 _Crack!_

"...trapezoid..."

 _Crack!_

"...and trapezium."

 _Crack!_

"It's simple to break them all together since they're all grouped together, but that's not as much fun," Kaneki said. "And besides, I want you to really feel where each bone is."

"PLEASE! ! !" Ayato shrieked. "I'M SORRY! ! ! PLEASE HAVE MERCY! ! !"

"Mercy?" Kaneki asked. "Sorry? Well, I accept you apology. But if you wanted mercy, maybe you shouldn't have eaten Touka's kagune. You're going to pay for hurting Touka, Ayato. And trust me. It's going to be more than you can take."

Ayato began to sob in fear, trying desperately to free his other limbs from Kaneki's tentacles, but it was no use.

"Let's see, where were we?" Kaneki asked. "Ah yes, the metacarpals. They're very simple to remember. They're numbered. One..."

 _Crack!_

"...two..."

 _Crack!_

"...three..."

 _Crack!_

"...four..."

 _Crack!_

"...and five."

 _Crack!_

"Now the phalanges. There are three types of bones making up the phalanges. The proximalis, distalis, and media. The thumb is the only finger without a distal bone, so there are fourteen phalanges making up one hand. Yamori actually allowed me to feel this part myself. You're going to love it."

 _Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_

"Next, we move back to the humerus," Kaneki said. "We forgot to break the other side."

 _Crunch!_

Ayato shrieked, tears coating his face. "PLEASE! ! ! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! ! !"

"That's a shame," Kaneki said. "If you can't even handle thirty, the next seventy three are really going to suck."

Ayato began to scream and sob all at once as Kaneki let his ruined arm fall back to the ground.

"Let's do the leg next," Kaneki said. "If we count the femur there are thirty bones, just like the arm. But if we count the sesamoid bones, there are thirty two."

He began to work, naming each bone in the leg as he went, breaking them individually with just as much care as he did the arm, making sure Ayato felt each individual break.

There are two bones each for the scapula..."

 _Crack!_

"...clavicle..."

 _Crack!_

"...nasal..."

 _Crack!_

"...sternum..."

 _Crack!_

"...lacrimal..."

 _Crack!_

"...and palatine."

 _Crack!_

"There are twenty four rib bones total, so you lose twelve," Kaneki said.

 _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_ _Crack!_

"The maxilla..."

 _Crack!_

"...and mandible..."

 _Crack!_

"...are both made with two bones. The ethmoid bone."

 _Crack!_

"And last but not least, the sphenoid bone."

 _Crack!_

"And that makes one hundred three," Kaneki said. "Does it hurt Ayato?" he received only sobs in return. "I can promise you that what you're feeling now, is nothing compared to what Touka felt."

"A ghoul!" a voice shouted, Kaneki turning to see three CCG troops aiming at him.

"I see," Kaneki said. "I took too long."

He raised his tentacles, only to freeze as a much, much larger tentacle with a mouth on the end shot out of the shadows, the mouth chomping down on one of the three. A second slammed into the next troop's head with enough force that the head was removed from its shoulders. Then, the first tentacle grabbed the last troop as well, eating him as it had the first.

"No...ro..." Ayato groaned from behind Kaneki.

"So, you're with Aogiri too, then," Kaneki growled, extending his wing. "Good. Then I have no problem killing you too."

"Kaneki!" a voice shouted, Kaneki turning to look, seeing Yomo, Uta, and Tsukiyama standing a short distance away, Tsukiyama with his kagune already out.

"We'll take it from here," Yomo said. "You go ahead and rest."

"Rest?" Kaneki blinked. "But I...haven't even fought him yet."

The three older ghouls charged at Noro, Kaneki dropping to his knees, suddenly feeling like his body was made of lead. He pushed himself up, jumping and using his tentacles to climb back to the top of the building, then walked to the edge, seeing Nishio running away from the building below him with Touka. He leapt off the roof, sending out his tentacles and crashing to the ground in front of Nishio, groaning. Nishio stopped beside him, helping him back up as Kaneki's tentacles retracted. Then, they turned, hurrying away from the compound. Finally, they reached a clear area in the woods where Hinami, Ryoko, and Irimi were waiting. Just as they arrived, Yoshimura arrived. Kaneki slowed to a stop, legs buckling, and crashed to the ground. Within seconds, Touka was beside him. He smiled up at her and a couple of minutes later, Yomo's group arrived at the same time as Banjou and several other ghouls.

"They found us already!" Nishio growled.

"It's alright," Kaneki mumbled. "Banjou tried to help me escape."

Yomo knelt beside Kaneki, picking him up onto his back.

"Hey, Kaneki, you're okay, right?" Touka asked, Kaneki staring at her as his brain processed the fact that she had spoken.

He managed to nod and watched as relief flooded Touka. She smiled, nodding back.

"When we get back to the shop, we'll have to change your hair back," Touka said. "Otherwise you'll stick out like a sore thumb."

Kaneki looked up, seeing the ends of his hair hanging in his view, surprised to see it was white now. He blinked slowly and Yomo looked over at Touka.

"Touka, he needs to rest," Yomo said. "He was tortured for two weeks straight."

Touka's face fell slightly but she nodded. Kaneki let his eyes slide closed, and felt blissful ignorance finally take him for the first time in weeks.

* * *

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	14. Chapter 14

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Home Again

Kaneki groaned, his eyes slowly creaking open to find himself in one of the guest rooms above Anteiku. He recognized it instantly because of the smell of fresh coffee. He slowly turned his head to the side, finding Touka asleep on the floor beside him, arms folded on the bed with her head resting on top of them. He sat up carefully, feeling his severely overworked body protesting. Once he was up, he climbed out of the bed, lifting Touka into it gently and covering her with the blankets. Then, he turned, walking to the bathroom.

What he saw in the mirror almost scared him. His hair was snow white, there were dark circles under his eyes, and his eyes were bloodshot. He shifted his eye to red and saw that the black sclera was still bloodshot. He shifted it back, closing the door and using the bathroom, then washed his hands and brushed his teeth with one of the spare toothbrushes Yoshimura kept in the bathroom. Once he was finished, he walked to the common room upstairs, finding Hinami sitting at the coffee table, reading. As soon as the door opened, she jumped up.

"Kaneki!" Hinami cheered, throwing her arms around him, knocking him onto his rear.

He smiled, hugging her back as Ryoko and Yoshimura both walked in, both smiling.

"You're awake," Ryoko smiled. "Finally."

"How long was I asleep?" Kaneki asked.

"About three days," Yoshimura said. "How are you feeling?"

"Hungry," Kaneki said. "And sore."

Yoshimura nodded. "You head back to bed, I'll find something to help your hunger."

"Actually, I think I should probably just eat something," Kaneki said. "Could you bring it to the room?"

Yoshimura nodded. "Absolutely."

Kaneki nodded, turning and walking back to the room he had woken up in, closing the door just as Touka sat up, stretching and looking around. She stopped when she saw him and he braced himself. Sure enough, she tackled him with a hug a moment later. He hugged her back, the two of them lying there for several minutes while Touka cried into his chest.

"Touka," Kaneki said, Touka looking up at him. "Can we get off the floor please? It's not very comfortable."

Touka nodded, helping him up. Kaneki sat down on the bed and held his arms out, Touka accepting the invitation, sitting in his lap as his arms wrapped around her.

"I'm so sorry I let you be taken," Touka sobbed. "I never meant for it to happen."

"I know," Kaneki said. "Neither of us could have defeated Yamori. But, it's okay now. I'm home."

"Look at you!" Touka snapped, pulling back. "Look at what he did to you!"

Kaneki sighed, closing his eyes as he lowered his head, trying to keep from thinking about what Yamori had done.

"How is this ever supposed to be okay?" Touka asked.

"Because you're safe," Kaneki said, looking up at Touka. "It's okay, because despite what I had to go through, I was able to protect you."

Touka stared at him for a moment before grabbing him by the shirt, mashing her lips to his. Kaneki wrapped his arms around her again, returning the kiss. After a moment, Touka pulled back and Kaneki followed, kissing her more gently. Touka responded in kind, neither of them caring about anything except the other. They only broke apart long enough to breathe when they absolutely had to, but rejoined within a second. Finally, they separated as a knock sounded from the door.

"That's the manager," Kaneki said.

Touka nodded, moving off of his lap and letting him walk to the door. Sure enough, when the door opened Yoshimura was standing there with a pair of plates of what Kaneki could swear was human food.

"Tsukiyama thought that perhaps he could make eating easier for you," Yoshimura said.

As far as Kaneki could see, all he was looking at was a steak. He accepted the plates, thanking Yoshimura who nodded, smiling and closing the door. Kaneki walked back to Touka, holding a plate out to her.

"I can't eat steak," Touka said.

"Tsukiyama made it," Kaneki said. "He thought maybe if it looked like human food, it'd be easier for me to eat."

Touka nodded, understanding and accepted hers, along with a fork and knife, cutting a piece off and eating it, eyes widening.

"It's delicious!" Touka breathed, staring at it as if it were made of gold. "Why didn't I ever try cooking my food before?"

Kaneki chuckled, taking a bit of his own, smiling. It tasted exactly like a perfect human steak. Tender enough that it practically melted in his mouth and cooked the perfect length of time.

"Tsukiyama's an amazing cook," Kaneki said. "It tastes exactly like a human steak used to to me."

"Really?" Touka asked. "That's amazing. Now I understand why you were so upset. This is amazing!"

Kaneki laughed, nodding and they continued to eat, finishing quickly. Then, Kaneki set the plates beside, stretching and reaching up to his hair.

"We should probably do something about this," Kaneki said.

"True," Touka nodded. "Truthfully it actually looks pretty good on you. It makes you look tougher."

"But like you said, it'll make me stick out like a sore thumb while I work," Kaneki said.

Touka nodded. "We could get you a wig. or we could dye it. There's no guarantee that it'll ever return to normal."

"Let's just go with a wig for now," Kaneki's said. "Hopefully it'll change back eventually."

Touka nodded, picking up her phone and typing a quick text, sending it. While she did, Kaneki lay down. Once finished, Touka lay down on top of him, ear over his heart and a small smile on her face.

"So what now?" Touka asked. "Back to the way things were?"

"I doubt things will ever go back to the way things were," Kaneki said. "I think I can get rid of the eyepatch soon, if I keep eating. I'm getting better at control."

"That's great!" Touka smiled. "Although, it's kind of become a part of you, hasn't it?"

"Sort of," Kaneki said. "I need to find Dr. Kanou."

"Why?" Touka asked.

"Something I heard while Yamori had me," Kaneki said. "He said that Kanou was behind what happened to Rize. He said that his original intention was to turn me into a one-eyed ghoul by implanting Rize's kakuho into me. But when he got me to the hospital, and saw that I was barely harmed, he tested my Rc levels and saw that I already was one. Yamori said that, since he couldn't use me, he found other test subject. If that's true, I need to find him, and stop him."

"Why?" Touka asked. "I mean, yeah, I understand that it's horrible to forcefully turn humans into ghouls, but why do _you_ have to stop him?"

"Because he works for Aogiri," Kaneki said. "He's trying to make them an army, except that anyone the procedure doesn't work on apparently dies, painfully. I personally have to be the one to stop him, because...he's getting materials to make Rize copies from somewhere."

"You think she's alive?" Touka asked.

"No," Kaneki said. "But he might have her corpse. And since it's my fault she was in a position to be used like that, I should be the one to stop that use."

"I see," Touka said, sitting up. "You still have feelings for her."

"No," Kaneki said. "Part of me will probably always hate her, because if she had never attacked me, I wouldn't have had my ghoul half awaken. I could be a normal person now. But really I'm grateful to her. Because of her, I got to know Hinami, and Yomo, and Ryoko, and the manager, and even Uta. Because of her, I got to fall in love with the most beautiful girl in the world, and have her love me back."

Touka stared at her, a blush slowly creeping across her face before she smiled, bending down and kissing him. "Okay then. Where should we start?"

"First I need to speak with the manager," Kaneki said. "He knew my parents and it's high time he tell me the truth about them."

Touka nodded. "I'll see if any of the others know anything about Kanou."

Kaneki nodded just as there was a knock at the door. Touka stood, walking over to it and opening it, taking a wig from Uta. She tossed it to Kaneki, who pulled it on, shocked by how it seemed to be formed to his head. Once it was on, the wig's hair naturally fell as he used to keep his hair and he looked to Uta in surprise.

"Why do you have a wig that's fitted to my head and that is in the same style as when you took my head's measurements?"

"I had him make the wig as soon as we rescued you," Touka said. "He kept your measurements in case he needed to remake your mask, so it was easy to make the wig."

"Oh," Kaneki nodded. "Thank you Uta."

Uta nodded and left, Kaneki standing and walking out of the room with Touka. She headed downstairs and he returned to the common room, arriving just as Hinami and Ryoko were leaving.

"Hello Kaneki," Ryoko smiled. "It's nice to see you with black hair again, even if it is just a wig."

Kaneki smiled and nodded in agreement. Once they were gone, he stepped into the common room, closing the door and turning to Yoshimura.

"It's time you told me everything," Kaneki said. "About my parents. About me. About why Rize and I have the exact same Rinkaku."

Yoshimura stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Very well. Follow me."

He walked to his office, Kaneki following him inside and closing the door behind himself. Yoshimura sat down and Kaneki did the same.

"Where to begin," Yoshimura sighed. "Well, first of all, you need to understand that, as I said when we met, I knew your father, and that he was a ghoul. Back then, I was...shall we say...a mercenary. I was extremely skilled at only one thing. Killing. Humans. Investigators. Ghouls. It didn't matter to me. I would kill anyone, for a price. Back then, I went by the name Kuzen. I grew more powerful with each fight I won, cannibalizing other ghouls. I'm sure you know what that does."

Kaneki nodded.

"Well, one day, I was approached by a group known simply as V. They wanted to hire me as a cleaner. Basically, they wanted an assassin, someone to do the dirty work so they wouldn't have to. I accepted. It was, shall we say, job security. And for the first time, I didn't have to worry about hunting for food. For years I worked for that group, doing their dirty work. One day, I met a human named Ukina. She was...unlike anyone I had ever met. She was so kind and so smart. I found that I often returned to the diner where she worked simply to see her. It was inevitable, I suppose, that I fell in love with her. Even more so that she eventually discovered that I was a ghoul. but she didn't care. Even though she knew what I was, she loved me anyway. As I said when we first met, ghoul-human hybrids almost never survive. That's because, in order for one to survive through pregnancy, the mother would have to feed it what a ghoul needs to survive. At least usually. I explained this to Ukina, but she didn't react as I thought. She fed our child. She ate human flesh in order for our child to be , not long after our child was born, V found out about Ukina. The ordered her to be eliminated. They said she knew too much."

"And you ran for it, obviously," Kaneki guessed.

"No," Yoshimura said. "I killed her. I killed the love of my life, because I was told to do so. However, they didn't know about our child, Eto. So, I hid her from them. Then, I left V. I went into hiding, assuming the name Yoshimura. One day, I heard about a ghoul called the One-eyed Owl, who despised the world, and who had fought the CCG only to be badly wounded. I knew this was Eto, my child. So, I became the Owl, attacking the second ward in my child's place. In the end, I ended up fighting against Arima Kishou. The White Reaper of the CCG. He was able to defeat me, wounding me badly. I fled, returning to hiding and listening for any signs of my child. I started Anteiku to help any ghouls who may need it. And with the help of Kaya and Koma, we stabilized the twentieth ward, dividing it up to give each ghoul set hunting grounds so that they wouldn't have to fight over it."

"I see," Kaneki nodded. "So, was my father a part of V? Where does any of this connect to my father? Or me and Rize's identical Rinkaku?"

"I was just getting to that," Yoshimura said. "Your father showed up not long after I started Anteiku, looking for work. I turned him away, however, because of his...tendencies."

"Tendencies?" Kaneki asked.

"He was a binge eater, and a cannibal," Yoshimura said. "I'm not being hypocritical for saying I refused him on the grounds of him being a cannibal. He had already become gained the power that brings, called a Kakuja. But he was overly reliant on that power. He would lose himself to it when he used it. So I turned him away. He left the twentieth ward, moving instead, to the sixth. There, he apparently impregnated two women. One, a ghoul, became the mother of Rize Kamishiro, though that name did not exist until later in Rize's life."

"Wait, Rize's my half-sister?" Kaneki gaped, staring at him.

"She is," Yoshimura said. "Happy that the two of you did not, in fact, hook up?"

Kaneki stared at him incredulously. The fact that they were siblings he could understand. He had suspected they might have been related without knowing it for a while after learning they had the same kagune, which was supposed to be impossible, without having had any organs transplanted into him. But to have Yoshimura making jokes about _that_?

"The other woman, a human, he married. Together, they moved back to the twentieth ward. He again approached me for work, and again I refused. I offered to hire him if he could prove that he had given up cannibalism and binge eating. And then you were born. He was so proud. He went out to celebrate. And he killed and ate a dozen people, and half a dozen ghouls to do it. I went out to stop him, and he attacked me. I had known he was a Kakuja, but his status as a chimera type caught me off guard. It was not an easy battle, even for me. In the end, however, I killed your father."

"I see," Kaneki nodded. "I suspected as much. So why did only I get both of my father's kagune? And why was he a chimera type?"

"In exceedingly rare cases, two ghouls with a different type of kagune can both pass that kagune on to their child, creating a chimera type," Yoshimura said. "Hinami, for example, is also a chimera type."

Kaneki's eyes widened. He hadn't known that.

"As for why Rize didn't also inherit your father's chimera status, I believe it's more a case that you were incredibly lucky to be a second generation chimera, which has never happened before. Chimera are usually an anomaly. Passing that trait on consecutively has never happened."

"I see," Kaneki nodded. "Thank you for telling me the truth. But, I still have one question. Why did it take Rize nearly killing me for my ghoul side to awaken?"

"That much is actually rather simple," Yoshimura said. "Your Rc levels were low, as a humans were. As such, you were essentially human. However, when Rize attacked you, the dormant Rc cells in your body reacted to the identical ones in Rize's kagune, awakening your ghoul half."

"I see," Kaneki nodded, then bowed. "Thank you for the information. If you'll excuse me, I have to go and see the others."

Yoshimura nodded and Kaneki left.

* * *

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	15. Chapter 15

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Off the Menu

"Are you sure about this Kaneki?" Touka asked.

"I'll be fine," Kaneki smiled. "Besides, you'll be right there with me, right?"

"Always," Touka nodded.

"Then I have nothing to worry about," Kaneki said.

Above them, the roof of the room began to open and Kaneki cracked his knuckles, pulling his mask up as Touka slid her own down. Finally, the floor moved upward, reaching its place in the arena as Kaneki turned to Tsukiyama, watching him carefully.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Tsukiyama said. "Tonight's dinner is rather different than normal. Tonight, the one on the menu is...all of you!"

The room fell silent for a moment before exploding with ghouls asking what he meant and shouting about one-eyed ghouls. Kaneki listened carefully, hearing Banjou and his gang locking the last of the doors and nodded to Touka. He wrapped his left arm around Touka's waist, holding her securely against him as she did the same with her right. Then, they extended their wings, his being on the right and hers on the left. He had never really payed a whole lot of attention to their wings, or to Ayato's, but it suddenly occurred to him that, while originally they had always reminded him of fire, they were actually closer to blood, even though his was light blue. His just happened to move like fire.

Both of them concentrated, their wings flapping together, the pair rising off the ground. Then, they flapped again, then again, the two taking off, slowly at first, then faster and faster as they soared through the air.

"Ready?" Kaneki asked.

"Ready," Touka nodded.

Their wings crystallized as they rolled, crystal shards spraying throughout the room, slaughtering ghouls. Then, they leveled out, wings returning to normal and they turned, looking around until they spotted their target. Madam A. Tsukiyama had told them that there was a rumor that Madam A had recently received a pair of ghoul twins who wore white and black outfits. They also, apparently, had only one eye uncovered by their masks. It wasn't necessarily much to go on, but the rumor stated that these two ghouls had been given to her after by one very generous, and very illusive, Dr. Akihiro Kanou.

Kaneki and Touka separated in the air above Madam A, dropping to the stands where Kaneki retracted his wing, sending out his tentacles and impaling four ghouls around him then hurling them into the arena. Madam A turned to flee, her twin bodyguards moving to protect her. One wore a dress a black robe with her right arm and shoulder uncovered and the other sleeve hanging past her hand, a hood with a white circle and a dot inside it on top, and a mask with her left eye uncovered and vertical white and black stripes. The other was wearing an identical outfit with the white and black on the robe reversed and the opposite arm uncovered, and a mask with the right eye uncovered instead and the stripes horizontal.

Kaneki sent a tentacle at each, and suddenly, an identical tentacle was restraining each, extended from the back of each twin. Kaneki smirked, turning, hurling the pair at the wall, both landing on it and flipping to the ground.

"Tell me where to find Kanou," Kaneki said. "I don't want to hurt the two of you. But I have to stop him."

"We're not letting you..." the one in black began.

"...hurt Father, Brother," the one in white said.

A second tentacle extended from each of them and Kaneki nodded, readying himself just as Touka stepped up beside him.

"No," Kaneki said, holding his arm out. "They're mine."

Touka looked like she wanted to argue but then nodded, turning and returning to attacking the ghouls in the room. A scrapper with a massive quinque like a massive baton leapt at Kaneki only for a tentacle to shoot out, flattening into a blade and splitting the quinque down the middle, killing the scrapper. Then, Kaneki leapt at the twins. His tentacles crashed into the wall where they had been and he launched himself sideways as the one in black struck at him, narrowly missing. The other attacked him and he turned to the side, allowing both to crash into the wall before launching his own at her. The other flipped past her sister, pulling her out of the way before all four of their tentacles swiped at him. Kaneki flipped over it, flipping and swiping downward at them, his tentacles crashing into the ground and cratering it.

The twins grabbed each of his tentacles, turning and hurling him, only for his own tentacles to wrap around their, pulling them after him. He landed on his feet, moving to slam both girls into the ground, only for them to let their kagune fade, flipping and landing on their feet, fresh tentacles bursting out of their backs and shooting toward Kaneki. Kaneki flipped sideways, avoiding them and stabbing at them as he landed, the twins avoiding the strikes. They landed in front of the door Madam A had fled through and both reached up, pulling their masks off.

"Should be time now," the one in black said.

"Should be," the other agreed.

Both reached up, pulling their masks off.

"See you next time, Brother," they both said before turning, fleeing into the tunnel and collapsing it with their Kagune as they ran.

Kaneki sighed, turning back to the room as Tsukiyama and Touka landed in front of him. "You sure you're alright with this, Tsukiyama?"

"Of course," Tsukiyama said. "It is but a small price to pay to earn my friend's trust. And also, I'm not particularly a fan of the good Dr. Kanou."

"I see," Kaneki nodded. "Okay. Let's go meet up with Banjou. Since Madam A got away, we'll have to try something else."

"There's something else we have to do first, though," Touka said, Kaneki looking at her questioningly. She groaned, flicking him on the forehead. "You idiot!We have to work tomorrow!"

"Oh, that," Kaneki said. "Right. Okay. After work then."

Touka nodded and Touka nodded, the three of them leaving the building.

* * *

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	16. Chapter 16

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Monster

Kaneki stared down at the hospital. He and the others had gone to see his former nurse, asking about Kanou. He had failed to get any information out of her, but she had clearly been lying. She knew where Kanou was. Or, at least, how to find him. So, now he, Tsukiyama, Touka, Banjou, and Banjou's three gas-mask-wearing friends all stood on top of the building opposite the hospital, waiting. Finally, the nurse walked out of the building, turning and beginning to walk away. Kaneki walked along the building, keeping pace with her until she entered an alleyway. Almost instantly, three ghouls landed around her, two giants with white suits and white masks with massive eye holes and a missing strip connecting them. The third was about Kaneki's size physically with a white suit and his blonde hair combed back.

"Aogiri," Kaneki said, leaping off of the building.

He extended his wing on one side, using three flattened tentacles on the other side to form an impromptu wing, gliding to the ground behind the smallest of the three. He grabbed him by the back of the jacket and hurled him away from the nurse.

"Hello there," Kaneki said. "Allow me to say this again, and for the last time. I'm looking for Kanou, and you're going to tell me where to find him."

The two larger ghouls leapt at Kaneki, only for Kaneki to smash them away with his tentacles, Tsukiyama landing behind him, using his kagune to block the other ghoul's, which was also a sword koukaku, this one seeming to have armor plates over the shoulder before the actual blade.

"Watch out!" Touka screamed suddenly.

Kaneki leapt forward, tackling the nurse out of the way as a massive, ridiculously heavily muscled ghoul with long wiry black hair and a fu manchu mustache crashed down where Kaneki had been. Kaneki turned only for the ghoul's fist to crash into his jaw, sending him blasting through the wall along the side of the building before rolling to a stop. He stood as the ghoul appeared over him, swinging and axe kick. Kaneki stepped back, raising his arms to block it, only for them to snap like twigs. Then, the ghoul spun, slamming a windmill kick into Kaneki's side, sending him blasting down the alleyway again. As Kaneki stood, his arms snapped back into place, mending themselves, along with his ribs. Then, he extended his tentacles again, shooting forward. he slashed at the man with them but he leapt over it. Kaneki spun, stabbing the man in the back, and the man responded by extending his tail and blasting the tentacles apart before flipping and slamming an axe kick into Kaneki's shoulder, blasting him straight down into the ground.

Blood sprayed out of Kaneki's mouth as the man walked away, pulling out a phone and dialing. Kaneki tried to stand only Touka to appear beside him, pushing him back down gently. He could feel why. His ribs were sticking out of his sides, and weren't healing yet. Suddenly, the man closed the phone and put it away, picking up the nurse and turning to the ghoul fighting Tsukiyama.

"Naki!" the man shouted. "We're leaving!"

"Dammit, fine!" the ghoul said. "Let's go! Gagi, Guge!"

Then, all four of them leapt from wall to wall up the buildings and disappeared over it. Touka pulled her sleeve up, holding her arm out only for Kaneki to turn his head away.

"Kaneki you need to eat something or else you won't heal, and if you don't heal, we can't move you!" Touka said.

Kaneki hesitated another moment before nodding. Touka pulled his mask down and held her arm out again and he bit down. Touka rolled her eyes.

"You have to actually bite, Kaneki," Touka said. "I'll be fine. I've taken bites out of you half a dozen times. Fair's fair."

He took a breath and nodded, quickly biting a chunk out of her arm, swallowing it then gritting his teeth as his ribs cracked and snapped loudly, sinking back into his chest as it visibly jerked and shook, rising back to the width it was supposed to be. Then, the ribs mended themselves and Kaneki pushed himself up, Touka helping him support his weight.

"Well, that was depressing," Kaneki grumbled. "Who was he?"

"Matasaka Kamishiro," Banjou said. "Goes by the name Shachi. I've heard about him a few times. He's a master of martial arts, mixed with the raw destructive power of a Bikaku ghoul. He's also Rize Kamishiro's adoptive father, according to Yomo."

"Joy," Kaneki sighed. "Let's head back to Anteiku. I want a coffee and we need to figure out a new plan. Again."

The others agreed and they headed back. Tsukiyama got Kaneki something to eat, seeing as he had the most practice making it look like human food, while Kaneki and the others sat in the common room.

"Now what?" Banjou asked.

"Well, since that...didn't work out, I suppose we'll have to go back to the original plan, unless anyone has a better idea," Kaneki said.

"And I take it we're just going to ignore the fact that you were almost killed," Touka said.

"Entirely," Kaneki agreed.

"Terrific," Touka sighed. "So, Madam A, then. Anyone know how to find her?"

"I might, actually," Tsukiyama said, walking in and handing Kaneki a plate with another steak. "I apologize for the lack of variety, but the selection is rather limited."

"It's fine," Kaneki said, beginning to cut the steak up. "How do we find her?"

"Normally, we couldn't," Tsukiyama said. "However, in this case, I think there might be a chance. She's on the run, after our last meeting. She will be packing up and leaving to another ward."

"And how does that help us?" Kaneki asked.

"Because, I know where she keeps her scrappers," Tsukiyama smiled.

Kaneki stared at him for several moments before nodding. "Okay. You'll greet her personally."

"It would be my honor," Tsukiyama bowed.

* * *

Kaneki watched the shipping container in silence. Behind him, Banjou and his three usual followers, Touka, and Hinami waited in silence. Finally, Madam A and the twin wearing black, now wearing a black tee-shirt and short shorts, walked into the shipping crate and Kaneki sent out his tentacles, slamming and locking the door then retracting them as he dropped to the ground.

"Stay up there," he ordered. "She'll be out in moments and will take off with Madam A. Track her and try to cut her off."

Touka nodded just as the end of the crate was shredded, the ghoul grabbing Madam A with a tentacle and taking off, just as Kaneki said. Kaneki followed, extending his wing, feeling himself lighten and speed up, as he had when Ayato had been attacking Touka. He sped around corner after corner, steadily closing in on the ghoul. She looked back, glaring at him, then sent out a tentacle, slicing off pieces of several crates, only for Kaneki's own tentacles to knock them aside, clearing his path. Suddenly, Banjou and his group dropped in front of her, the ghoul darting around a corner, only for Tsukiyama to step into the far side of the narrow path created by the shipping crates. She leapt over Tsukiyama, only for Touka to land on the side of a container ahead of her, then leap off of it and kick her, sending both her and Madam A crashing back to the ground. She stood as Kaneki stopped behind her, wing fading. Then, she dropped Madam A.

"What are you doing?" Madam A demanded.

"Papa told me that if the time came, I was supposed to cut you off," the girl said. "Against all of them, it's impossible for me to win alone."

Then, she leapt to the top of the shipping containers and was gone. Kaneki walked forward, Madam A staring at him in terror.

"Now, Madam A, I have a lot of questions for you, but I'll narrow it down to three," Kaneki said. "Firstly, do you know the kind of sound you here when you put a live centipede in someone's ear? Secondly, would you like to find out?"

Madam A staggered away, pleading for mercy.

"It's alright," Kaneki said. "In order to not find out, all you have to do is answer my final question honestly. Where...is...Kanou?"

Madam A swallowed hard before bowing. "He has a mansion. That's where I met him."

"Where?" Kaneki asked.

"I can show you," she said.

"Or, you could tell us, and we could go there in person," Touka said.

"No," Kaneki said. "If she wants to show us, she can show us. This way, there's either less chance of an ambush, or another ghoul to help fight against it."

Touka considered for a moment before nodding. "We have to work again tomorrow. Should we go after? Or risk going tonight?"

"Tomorrow," Kaneki said. "I want to be as well rested as possible if we meet Shachi again."

Touka nodded in agreement and they began to head home, Kaneki looking to Tsukiyama.

"You're keeping an eye on her until tomorrow," Kaneki said. "Do not, under any circumstance, let her out of your sight."

Tsukiyama bowed before straightening and continuing.

* * *

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	17. Chapter 17

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Located

Kaneki walked through the halls of the mansion in silence. His mind was not entirely on the task at hand. When they had returned to Anteiku, they had been told by Yoshimura that a pair of ghoul investigators had been in. One by the name of Shinohara, and the other by the name of Suzuya. What's more, Yoshimura had told them that they had been asking about Kaneki by name. Yoshimura claimed to have been honest about Kaneki with them. Telling them he was a hard worker, a good employee, and that he was off work for a few days after having asked for time off.

"There's a basement," Banjou reported, Kaneki following him to the top of a staircase.

Kaneki started down it directly behind Madam A, the group soon finding themselves in a brick tunnel. They followed the tunnel, passing several small rooms like a maintenance closet, a boiler room, and a small bathroom. Finally, they reached a dead end. Kaneki turned on Madam A instantly.

"Well?" Kaneki asked. "Where is he?"

"I...I don't know," Madam A said. "He...I thought he was here. I swear."

Kaneki's tentacle shot out, tearing through the wall beside her, barely missing her and making her cower in fear. "I gave...you...a...oh wow."

Behind Madam A, the wall had collapsed. Madam A turned to look, staggering backward as she stared at the wall of flesh. It pulsed like it had a heartbeat, then, it slowly opened, revealing a path behind it consisting of a round hallway with shiny metal plating for walls, floor, and ceiling.

"It's a Kagune wall," Tsukiyama said. "I had no idea it was here. It's not supposed to even be in this ward."

"It's impressive," Kaneki said. "And it's revealed what we wanted. Madam A, you may go."

He walked forward, slicing his way through the wall with his kagune, the others following. Touka caught up to him, looking over at him worriedly.

"Are you alright?" Touka asked. "You've been acting...distant."

"Anteiku's been found out," Kaneki said. "The CCG knows I'm a ghoul. Took them long enough to figure it out. Now that they know I work at Anteiku, they know that, at the very least, the manager is also a ghoul. They'll be moving on Anteiku soon."

"How do you know?" Touka asked.

"Because I'm a pessimist," Kaneki said.

They reached a bridge over dark water, and just as they reached about halfway, a massive, nude, excessively fat man with one red eye shot out of the water, grabbing Banjou and dragging him into the water. Kaneki turned instantly, driving a tentacle through the man's head. Tentacles burst out of the man's back, but as they did, they ripped its back apart, killing it. Kaneki retracted his tentacle and turned back to the front, continuing. After a few more minutes, they stopped as they reached a large open room, the twins standing across from them.

"You know, we keep meeting like this and I don't even know your names," Kaneki said.

"I'm Kurona," the one in black said. "You can call me Kuro, Brother."

"I'm Nashiro," the other said. "To you it's Shiro."

"My name is Kaneki," Kaneki said. "I need to speak with Dr. Kanou."

"We can't let you speak with papa," Shiro said. "Papa's very busy."

"If I don't speak with him, Aogiri's going to take him," Kaneki said.

"Aogiri isn't a problem," Kuro said.

"Could have fooled me," Kaneki said. "Fine. If I have to force my way past you, I will."

Both sisters extended their kagune and Kaneki crouched, extending his tentacles. Shiro charged first. Kaneki flipped to the side as Shiro's kagune tore across the ground. As soon as he landed, Kuro's crashed into Kaneki's own on Kaneki's other side. Kaneki sighed as he stared at Kuro, Shiro charging at him again. Kaneki's arm snapped out, his two free tentacles shooting out and tangling with Shiro's stopping her attack.

"I don't want to fight you," Kaneki said.

"That's a shame," Kuro said

"Papa ordered us to stop you," Shiro said.

"Kanou is using you," Kaneki said just as a ghoul wearing a pristine white suit with his blonde hair slicked back and with a sword-like Kagune along his right arm fell at Kaneki from above. Kaneki's wing appeared, blocking the blade and Kaneki flipped, kicking him at Tsukiyama, the ghoul's blade clashing with Tsukiyama's own, allowing the ghoul to flip over Tsukiyama and land on the opposite side of him from Kaneki. "I don't have time for this. Tsukiyama, handle it."

"Of course, mon cheri," Tsukiyama bowed.

Kaneki spun, hurling the twins away, then sprinted through the tunnel they had come from. Both twins followed, but when the ghoul in white tried, Tsukiyama got in his way. Kaneki sprinted through the tunnel, flipping and dodging around the twin's tentacles as they pursued him. He flipped over one particularly near miss and spun while upside down, wing crystalizing and firing several spikes at the twins, making them leap out of the way, gaining Kaneki a little distance. Finally, he reached the end of the tunnel and leapt out, landing about twenty feet below in a large open room with no other path out. He looked around slowly just as the twins dropped out of the tunnel behind him, both extending their tentacles.

"It's over," Shiro said.

"There's no where left to run," Kuro said. "We can't let you take papa."

"Like I said, I'm not asking for your permission," Kaneki said. "I have no interest in fighting you. But I can't allow Kanou to create an army of ghouls for Aogiri."

"You don't know anything at all, do you, you one-eyed brat," a voice barked from above them.

They all looked up, seeing Shachi standing upside down on the ceiling, his tail anchoring him in place. Kaneki grit his teeth, crouching and extending both of his kagune.

"Shachi," Kaneki snarled. "I don't know why you're working for Aogiri, or why you're trying to stop me from letting Kanou use Rize's body to make an army of one-eyed ghouls, but I'm not stopping now. I'm going to get Rize's body away from Kanou. And there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"You insolent child!" Shachi snarled, dropping heavily to the ground, tail instantly shooting out at Kaneki, only for him to flip over it, landing off to the side.

"Shiro, Kuro, this man wants to take Kanou away as well, except that none of us are strong enough to stop him," Kaneki said. "If you want to try and stop me, we'll have to deal with him first."

"Whether it's one of you or all three, it won't make a difference," Shachi said, adopting an obvious martial arts position. "I'll kill you all!"

He shot forward, chopping at Kaneki, who dodged out of the way, jumping over a kick and driving his fingers at Shachi's eye. Shachi dropped his head, Kaneki's fingers snapping backward against Shachi's forehead, then flipped, tentacles shooting out and driving themselves into the ground, throwing him away just before Shachi's foot fell from above, cratering the ground.

"Your body's ridiculous," Kaneki said, his fingers cracking loudly as they reset themselves and healed. "I guess I'll have to stop holding back."

He shot forward, his tentacles shooting out ahead of him and stabbing at Shachi, only for Shachi to flip past them all. As Kaneki neared Shachi, his wing crystalized, firing a barrage of spikes at Shachi as Shachi was in mid-air. Shachi's tail blocked the shots, all of them shattering on it, before Kaneki spun, his still-crystalized wing slashing a gash across Shachi's chest, making him stagger backward a step, eyes wider than before. Then, as his tail shot at Kaneki, Kaneki flipped over it, all four tentacles raking down Shachi's front on the sides of his chest and then just below each shoulder. Shachi staggered backward another step and the twins appeared on either side of him, their tentacles shooting toward him. However, their kagune proved to be much weaker than Kaneki's because the tentacles burst on impact with Shachi's skin like the ends of them were water balloons. Shachi grabbed the tentacles and spun, slamming both twins into Kaneki and hurling them all into the wall. Kaneki grabbed both instantly, his tentacles hurling the three of them aside as Shachi's knees exploded into the ground where they had been. Kaneki flipped in mid air, tentacles driving into the ground and slowing them to a stop. Just as he did, Shachi appeared in front of them, his right hand driving itself through Shiro's abdomen instantly, hurling her aside as his tail slammed into Kurona and Kaneki, hurling them in the other direction.

"Shiro!" Kurona screamed, struggling to stand.

Shachi shot toward Kurona, his hand once again formed into a knife hand, as it had been when his impaled Shiro, only for Kaneki's tentacles to explode out of the ground, impaling Shachi through ht left shin, right thigh, abdomen, and right shoulder. Kaneki stood, the portion of his tentacles still underground breaking free, then spun, hurling Shachi into the wall, cratering it. He shot forward instantly, tentacles shooting outward at Shachi only for them to crash into his tail, cracking it but not breaking through. Instantly, Shachi exploded through the wall, crashing to the ground before Kaneki's wing began to shower him in crystal spikes, Shachi shouting in pain as blood flew into the air. As he did, Kaneki looked around, seeing the flesh around them like the walls of a caver, covering everything. He looked back at Shachi in time to flip out of the way of Shachi's tail, his tentacles leaving the ground and crashing into the ceiling, launching him down at Shachi before forming around his right arm in a tight twist of hardened kagune flesh ending in three clawed finger-like spikes. Kaneki reached Shachi and drilled his hand downward, the claws burying themselves deep into Shachi and cratering the ground. However, at the exact same moment that that happened, Shachi flipped, slamming his clasped hands into Kaneki's side, the cratered ground exploding downward, Kaneki crashing to the ground, blood spraying out of his caved-in side and his mouth and Shachi landing on his feet a short distance from him.

"You've grown a lot stronger since the last time we fought," Shachi said, watching as Kaneki's side healed itself rapidly. "You're more resilient than before too. You little bastard."

"You're as stubborn and monstrous as ever," Kaneki growled, pushing himself up and looking around the massive room they were in. It was entirely round with stasis pods lining the wall, and a large round pillar in the middle with a platform about a quarter of the way up. Standing on the pillar was none other than Dr. Kanou. And just below the platform was a stasis pod with a body in it, one with blood red hair, and their arms and legs trapped in some sort of restraints at the back of the pod, the rest of her bare body exposed, though her hair covered her mostly as she was slumped forward. Even so, he instantly recognized his half-sister.

"Rize," Kaneki said. "Kanou, we need to talk."

"As much as I would enjoy that, it would seem we're out of time, Kaneki," Kanou said. "You know, you truly are remarkable. I once had huge dreams of turning you into my first one-eyed ghoul. Yet, lo-and-behold, you already _were_ one. I bet that was a bit of a shock for you."

"It was," Kaneki nodded. "I actually thought you had done something to me at first. I tried to cut myself open to take out whatever organs you had put inside of me, but the knife broke."

"Yes, I'd imagine it did," Kanou nodded. "After all, I don't know many humans who use quinque knives as kitchenware."

Kaneki stared at him as Kanou chuckled. After a moment of silence, Kanou sighed.

"You're here to stop me from using Rize to form half-ghouls, yes?" Kanou asked. "You feel responsible for all of the deaths, because it happened to be you she was attacking when she was hit by the falling beams?"

"Her death was my fault," Kaneki said. "So I'm here to take Rize's body back with me. I'm going to give her a proper burial and I'm going to stop you from forming an army of one-eyed ghouls for Aogiri."

Suddenly, Rize stirred, looking up at Kaneki, who stared at her in complete shock. She looked dazed, but he could see recognition in her eyes, as well as something else. Desperation maybe. Or possibly a touch of hope.

"She's alive?" Kaneki gaped as Rize passed out again, slumping forward once more.

"You misunderstand," Kanou said. "I have no intention of making an army for Aogiri. I wish to break the cage that is holding our world back, and free it. But in order to do that, I needed the most effective tool at my disposal, in other words, ghouls. But not just any. Normal ghouls couldn't do it. I needed ghouls artificially made strong by heterosis. I needed one-eyed ghouls. To achieve this, I threw away everything and experimented endlessly. And for it, I'm a wanted man, now, so I intend to go to Aogiri for protection. If Aogiri finds a use for my failed experiments like Shiro and Kuro, then so be it."

"Failed?" Kuro asked, landing behind Kaneki, Shiro in her arms, barely clinging to life.

Kaneki stared at Shiro. Shachi hadn't pulled any punches when he impaled her. Her spine was completely severed and he also probably grazed her heart. Only her ghoul half's regenerative abilities were keeping her alive, and that only barely.

"Papa, Shiro's hurt," Kuro said. "Save her. Please."

"I'm afraid that's not possible," Kanou said. "She's going to die. It's best to simply let her go. We must leave now." He gestured to Shachi. "This man is going to take us to Aogiri."

"But...that's the guy that hurt Shiro!" Kuro said. "Please papa! Please save Shiro!"

"I told you, she can't be saved," Kanou said. "Do as I say girl. Leave her and get over here, now."

"I told you, didn't I?" Kaneki said, turning to the twins and walking over to them. "He's just using you. He doesn't care about you in the slightest. Fortunately for you, he's wrong. She can be saved. You see, the thing about being half ghoul, is that our flesh gives the same power boost as eating a ghoul, without the disgusting taste."

"What do you mean?" Kuro asked as Kaneki pulled his sleeve up and knelt in front of Shiro.

"Bite me, Shiro," Kaneki said, holding out his arm.

Shiro stared at him for a moment before biting him, struggling for a moment to break the skin before managing to bite a chunk out of his arm and swallowing it. Kaneki's arm ended itself almost instantly, and Shiro's wounds began to slowly seal themselves. As they did, Kaneki stood, turning away from the twins, back toward Kanou.

"I'm taking Rize," Kaneki said. "Your research is over."

"You really don't understand," Kanou said. "This world is wrong. It's being held back by a cage that everyone pretends doesn't exist. Come with me to Aogiri. I can show you this world's true form. And there are things you don't know. For example, the person behind the creation of Aogiri is a ghoul going by the name of Yoshimura."

"I know," Kaneki said. "He already explained everything to me. And as for the world being broken, I know that as well. But I'm going to fix it my way. And my way doesn't involve letting you keep Rize."

Suddenly, something crashed into Rize's pod, the glass exploding outward before a figure in a dark trench coat with a crow mask shot out of the smoke, landing in the mouth of a pipe up above, turning and looking back at the rest of them, pulling the mask off.

"Ken, be careful," Yomo said. "The Doves are here."

Then, he turned, leaving through the tunnel with Rize. Kaneki turned back to Kanou, nodding once.

"I still haven't decided whether or not to let you go to Aogiri," Kaneki said. "You're dangerous. Probably too dangerous to let live." He glanced at Kuro and Shiro, who was mostly healed. "However, I have other things to worry about. I have to make sure my friends get out of this place alive. So as far as I care, you're free to go. But the next time we meet, I'll probably kill you." He turned, kneeling and taking Shiro from Kuro, lifting her carefully into his arms. "Come on. I think you should come with us. We can help you. Really. After all, I'm your brother now, right? Family's got to stick together."

Kuro smiled slightly and nodded, standing. However, as they turned to leave, Shachi stepped in front of them.

"Ignore them, Shachi," Kanou said. "We need to leave before the doves arrive. I'll let the others handle them."

Shachi nodded and leapt to Kanou, picking him up as Kanou pressed a button, all of the hundred or so stasis pods hissing open. As they did, and nude men with deformed bodies staggered out of them, Shachi leapt to a tunnel near the ceiling and left with Kanou. Kaneki sighed as the experiments all extended tentacles, a few dying as their backs exploded from the kagune like the one Kaneki's group met on the way in did, but almost all survived. Kuro extended her own tentacles as well.

"Kuro, put your mask on," Kaneki said, slipping Shiro's mask onto her as well before pulling on his own. "If the doves reach us before we're finished, we don't want them seeing our faces."

Kuro nodded, pulling on her mask as Kaneki's tentacles and wing extended. "Let's go."

* * *

Leave a review. _**Sorry it took so long to write this. I stalled out because it was hard for me to figure out how to change this to save my favorites. From here it should run a bit smoother, though. For a while. Still struggling to figure out how to adapt the later events of the manga. Poor everyone.**_


	18. Chapter 18

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Kakuja

"Let's go."

Kaneki sent his tentacles out, impaling several experiments and hurling them away as soon as he did, the experiments all charged, Kuro flipping over several tentacles and impaling an experiment, landing and kicking another in the jaw, snapping its head around backward before hurling the one she had impaled into another. Kaneki flipped over several tentacles, raining crystal spikes onto several experiments and killing them before landing on another's shoulders, spinning and snapping its head around backward before flipping, several tentacles stabbing into it. He impaled several through the head, landing on his feet before hurling Shiro into the air just before a tentacles drove itself through his abdomen. It was thin and frail and he ripped it off with his hands, pulling it out and eating the piece he was holding, grimacing. Then, he spun, a wave of crystal shards shooting out and killing numerous experiments before he caught Shiro and leapt over more tentacles, landing on the platform on the tower, Kuro landing beside him.

"There's a lot of them," Kaneki growled, gently setting Shiro down. "If you watch your sister, I can handle them."

"Okay," Kuro nodded.

"Be careful," Shiro mumbled, looking up at him tiredly.

He nodded, smiling, then leapt off of the platform, firing crystal shards into the horde below the platform, drawing their attention away from Kuro and Shiro. He landed on his feet, spinning and sending out six tentacles, impaling a group of experiments before hurling them away as he darted forward, drilling a punch into one's lower rip cage and crushing it, killing the experiment and hurling him. He jumped, spinning and raking his tentacles across a line of experiments, shredding them before flipping and slamming a kick into the side of another's neck, taking its head completely off. Then, he landed and spun, firing a barrage of crystals into a pair of experiments that had been moving to attack Kuro. He spun, leaning out of the way of a tentacle, letting it impale another before biting a chunk out of the tentacle and grabbing it, swinging the experiment over his head then down into another, smashing their heads together in a spray of blood and bone chunks.

He spun again, several tentacles impaling him before he severed them with his hand, leaping forward as the pieces in his chest dissolved, tackling the experiment that had hit him and biting a chunk out of its neck. As several closed in on him, eight tentacles burst out of his back, killing them all before flailing around, hurling them and impaling more before retracting, allowing Kaneki to stand. There were only a handful left now. He leapt into the air, using his tentacles to throw himself higher, then began to rain crystal shards down on the experiments, slaughtering them. Finally, he landed on his feet just as three doves walked into the room, all wearing pristine white coats. One was an older man with a receding hairline, black hair, a round nose, one was younger with a bowl cut, one was somewhere in between the first two with his hair seeming to be combed into two peaks on the back corners of his head.

"Eyepatch," the oldest said. "So, you're here are you? Somehow I doubt you're the boss around here. What are you doing here?"

"How did you find this place?" Kaneki asked.

"We were looking for Dr. Akihiro Kanou and found this place was owned by him," the dove said. "Why are you here? Are you one of Kanou's friends?"

"Actually, I came here to try and kill him," Kaneki said. "But things changed. We were actually just leaving."

"I'm afraid I can't let that happen," the dove said, opening his briefcase, a massive cleaver extending from the handle. "If you come quietly, we'll let you live."

"Get out of my way," Kaneki said. "I have more important matters to attend to than you."

Just then, the dove's communicator went off, Kaneki's enhanced hearing allowing him to pick up the conversation.

"Shinohara, it's Amon," the voice said. "We've found a group of ghouls. The Gourmet from the Twentieth Ward, Naki from the five Cochlea escapees, and the Rabbit. Suzuya and Akira are finishing the Rabbit off now. I'm moving to deal with the Gourmet and Naki."

"Be careful," Shinohara said back before staring at Kaneki as Rc cells shot out of his back like a geyser.

"What the hell have you done to her!?" Kaneki seethed. "I'll kill anyone who lays a hand on her!"

"Be careful!" Shinohara said, raising his cleaver. "Something's not right here!"

"GET OUT OF MY WAY! ! !" Kaneki roared, the Rc cells suddenly compressing and solidifying into army and a mask-like structure over his actual mask, the mask having a long, beak-like piece hanging from the left half of his face just below his eye and armor around his left eye.

Finally, a new kagune exploded out of his back, black, armored, spiked, and looking like a demonic centipede. Suddenly, Kaneki exploded into movement, the kagune blasting into Shinohara's cleaver as he tried to block the strike, sending him blasting into the wall before the kagune split both of the other investigators in half. Shinohara stood, throwing his coat and suit jacket off, leaving him in black armor, eyes narrowing as Kaneki roared, streaking toward him again.

* * *

Kuro and Shiro watched as Kaneki and Shinohara fought, Shinohara barely fending Kaneki off as Kaneki sped around and around him, his strikes bearing far more power than normal. However, they could tell he wasn't in control. He kept babbling about being hungry and about protecting Rabbit. After a couple of minutes, Kuro turned to Shiro.

"Who's Rabbit?" Kuro asked.

"The one from the restaurant?" Shiro guessed.

"Oh, the Ukaku," Kuro nodded. "It sounded like she's in danger."

"We should help her," Shiro stated, standing. "She's important to Brother, so that makes her family too."

Kuro nodded and both leapt off the balcony, using their tentacles to climb up through the hole they had entered from, then retraced their steps to the others. Once there, they found Tsukiyama and Naki fighting one investigator with a pair of quinque, a blonde woman off to the side with a chunk bitten out of her leg, and Touka struggling to escape a person that looked like it could be a male or female with stitches all over its body for no apparent reason, pale white-blonde hair, and a massive axe in their hands. Both twins recognized the person as Rei, a former classmate of theirs.

Kuro and Shiro shot across the room as Touka collapsed, gashes covering her body, allowing her to bleed heavily, and Rei shot forward, slashing at her. Before the axe could finish her, the twins' tentacles crashed into it, knocking it to the side before Kuro grabbed Touka and leapt away, landing off to the side, Shiro landing beside her.

"You two?" Touka blinked. "But why?"

"You're important to Brother," Kuro said. "Here, bite me. It should help."

Touka didn't argue and bit a chunk out of Kuro's forearm. Kuro's arm healed slowly as she and Shiro turned back to Rei.

"Rei, what are you doing here?" Kuro asked.

"It's Juuzo Suzuya now," Rei said. "But how do you know me?"

Rather than answer, both twins shot forward, their tentacles flashing out and making Suzuya leap backward, flipping over the strikes. Kuro sped past Shiro, striking at Suzuya again and he flipped over the tentacles, only to use his axe to block Shiro's immediately afterward. The axe spun into the air as Suzuya landed, Kuro streaking forward. Then, as Suzuya dodged aside from Kuro's tentacles, he hurled a half-dozen knives, all of them stabbing into Kuro's torso, making her stagger backward, coughing, blood running out of the bottom of her mask.

"Kuro!" Shiro screamed.

"Kuro?" Suzuya blinked. "Oh! Kurona and Nashiro! Long time no see! When did you become ghouls?"

"Shut up!" Shiro shrieked, charging at Suzuya.

* * *

Kaneki flipped over Shinohara's cleaver, the quinque hitting his kagune's spikes and pinning it. Before Shinohara could even begin to make his net move, a second centipede exploded out of Kaneki's back in a geyser of excess Rc cells, blasting into Shinohara's side and sending him bouncing along the floor, his cleaver skittering along after him.

"You're in my way!" Kaneki snarled. "I have to kill you! Have to eat! If I'm weak they all die! I have to eat! Eat to be strong!"

Shinohara dove aside as the kagune both crashed down where he had been, Kaneki tilting his upper body to the side, his movements stiff and jerky.

"A-A-A-Ay...yato!" Kaneki called out, the kagune assaulting Shinohara, but without their former speed and power, Shinohara managing to just barely fend them off. "You're half killed Ayato! Half killed!" Kaneki cackled psychotically. "Twist, and cut, and crush, and break, and pull, and crunch, and crack, and off the fingers come!" He was somewhere between chanting, singing, and shrieking as he spoke. "And if that's not fun, we're not done! The toes! Every single one!" His head snapped around at Shinohara, the centipedes blasting into him at full force once again and launched him before Kaneki's rambling turned into furious ranting. "Put a centipede in the ear! Go on a date to the bookstore and have your insides gently scrambled!" He sent Shinohara flying again before beginning to chant and count down in a low grumble. "One thousand minus seven minus seven minus seven minus seven is nine hundred seventy two."

"Of all the ghouls I've ever met, you are the most fucking insane one," Shinohara said.

"Half killed," Kaneki said, voice a robotic, loud whisper. "Half killed, half killed, half killed! One hundred three bones! Humerus, ulna, radius..." He shot forward, sidestepping a slash from Shinohara's cleaver and drilled a punch into his gut, launching him before his kagune smashed him back into the ground. "If you can't even handle thirty, the next seventy three are going to really suck!" He cackled again, punting Shinohara by the right shoulder, dislocating his arm despite his armor. Shinohara crashed to the ground, groaning, and Kaneki crashed down on top of him, grinning wickedly and leaning down so his face hovered over Shinohara's by a few inches, then grinned even wider.

"Eat!" Kaneki muttered. "Have to eat! So hungry! So weak! Eat! Eat! Eat!"

He bent down, ripping a chunk of Shinohara's armor off, sniffing it and grinning, shoving it into his mouth and chewing it up, swallowing it. It tasted like a ghoul. He began to shove more into his mouth, a chunk of flesh going with it every so often. Then, suddenly, voice behind him began to shout.

"Eyepatch bastard!" Amon shouted, slashing at Kaneki, only for one of the centipedes to block it.

Kaneki turned, looking back with a piece of armor hanging out of his mouth. He let it fall, staring at Amon. Amon slowly eased off the pressure, stepping back as the centipedes began to break apart, leaving tentacles.

"You cried the last time we fought," Amon said, seeing tears leaking from under Kaneki's mask. "And you're crying now. Why? I want answers! Why are you crying!?"

Kaneki began to cackle, even as more tears began to fall from under the mask. "Don't know! Nonsense! Can't remember! Who are you?"

Then, his tentacles shot out, Amon barely blocking it with his quinque, skidding backward. Kaneki shot forward, swiping at him with his tentacles and Amon slashed them upward, slashing back the other way at Kaneki, only for Kaneki to flip over it. Just as he landed, however, Amon's quinque split in two and he slashed as hard as he could, removing the tentacles on one side of Kaneki's body. Kaneki spun, driving the other side at him and Amon removed those too. Then, Amon drilled the end of one of the pieces into Kaneki's gut, hurling him backward. He crashed to the ground hard, groaning and rolled onto his stomach.

"You're a monster," Amon spat, walking over and holding the quinque out to him. "The last time we fought, you were protecting the Rabbit, right? So what are you fighting for this time? You're just a raving lunatic."

Kaneki stared at him before his head slowly drifted over to Shinohara. His mind began to fight through the haze it had been drifting in, his head throbbing painfully as his stomach churned. He bent forward, spewing broken chunks of armor across the floor, Amon staring at it.

"You only ate...the Arata?" Amon breathed before staring at Kaneki. "Why did you spare me, Eyepatch? Why do you cry?"

Kaneki stared at Amon as a single word echoed in his mind again and again.

 _Touka!_ Kaneki's mind screamed, finally getting through the haze enough to move, streaking away from Amon, who made no move to follow.

Kaneki leapt off the ground, reaching a tunnel on the wall and following it, staggering through the tunnel for a ways before collapsing, his stomach rolling again, forcing him to empty its contents once again. Hunger lanced through him, along with nausea and he screamed in pain, frustration, and anger. He needed food. He needed to eat something. Anything. Suddenly, feet pounded around the corner and he turned, seeing his friends, Kurona carrying a badly wounded Nashiro. Except, the haze had returned as he smelled blood.

"Na...shi...ro," Kaneki said, pushing himself up and staggering toward them, hand extended.

"Can you save her?" Kuro asked.

Banjou stepped forward as Kaneki's legs gave out, and reached out to help him up. Before he could, Kaneki had driven a hand through Banjou's abdomen. Everyone stared in shock as he threw Banjou aside, lunging at the next nearest person, Touka. He pinned her to the floor, lunging and biting into her shoulder, only to freeze, the taste of her blood filling his mouth. He didn't bite hard enough to do anything besides break the skin, and after a moment, he released her, sitting up as his kagune mask disintegrated, his own mask having fallen down around his neck during the fight with Shinohara, leaving only the eyepatch. Kaneki stared down at Touka, who stared directly back calmly, having made no move to stop him when he attacked her, part of the reason he was able to make himself stop.

"I...I..." he trailed off, tears flooding down his face quickly.

Touka reached up, gently pulling his head to her chest as he began to sob, holding him comfortingly. "It's alright now. It's over. We're all okay."

"I...hurt Banjou," Kaneki said, looking over, only to see Banjou sitting up, a chunk of kagune sticking out of his upper back between his shoulder blades.

"I'm alright," Banjou said. "Shiro's hurt really bad, though. One of the doves nearly split her in half with an axe."

Kaneki nodded, pushing himself up unsteadily and staggering over to her, holding out his arm. Shiro tried to bite it but didn't even have the strength to break the skin. Kaneki bit a chunk out of his own arm and then spat it into his hand, shoving it into her mouth and tilting her head back, forcing her to swallow it whole. She gagged for a moment before managing to swallow it. He wound began to seal and Kaneki held his arm out again, Shiro managing to bite herself a chunk this time, chewing it and swallowing, her wound sealing a little faster. Kaneki's arm healed itself quickly as Kaneki fell against the wall of the tunnel, eyes struggling to close. Touka knelt in front of him, smiling.

"Rest, Kaneki," Touka said. "We'll handle things from here."

Kaneki opened his mouth to protest, but instead he blacked out, his head dropping and his body going limp.

* * *

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	19. Chapter 19

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Explanations

Kaneki screamed as his back exploded, the centipede tearing his flesh as it burst out of him, only to dissolve, his back healing itself. He rolled over, feeling his eye shift of its own accord before another centipede exploded out of his back. This one blasted into the wall of the shipping crate he was staying in before fading. Before him, Touka remained motionless, hands clasped around his cold clammy one as he screamed. More and more centipede's exploded out of him, spreading more and more blood on the ground, gouging up more and more of the floor, putting dents and holes in the walls. It was like they were parasites, trying to either destroy or escape the host. It lasted days, too. After three days of the torture, and three days of no rest from the relentless misery of trying to regain his sanity and control, finally, Kaneki was able to rest. Touka carried him back to the guest room over Anteiku, and nearly a day later, he woke up, Tsukiyama cooking him something to eat for breakfast. Once he was done, Kaneki ate it in silence, Touka never once leaving his side.

"I messed up," Kaneki said.

"Yes," Touka nodded. "And no."

"What do you mean?" Kaneki asked.

"You couldn't have beaten that dove without that power," Touka said. "If you hadn't lost control, you'd have been killed. But because of it, you hurt Banjou. Banjou may have healed, but he might not have if you had hit a bit further to the left."

"What do I do?" Kaneki asked.

"Never eat a ghoul again," Touka said. "Ever."

Kaneki stared at the ground, nodding. "I need to take to the manager."

"I agree," Touka nodded. "He can explain what happened to you better than me. By the way, Hinami and Ryoko are coming over later today. So try and be positive for Hinami, okay?"

Kaneki managed a small smile and nodded. Touka smiled as well and kissed him lightly, both remaining there for a while. Finally Kaneki pulled away, going to the bathroom and getting cleaned up before walking downstairs to the Manager's office and knocking.

"Come in," Yoshimura said.

Kaneki walked through the door and closed it behind him, sitting across the desk from Yoshimura. Yoshimura smiled warmly.

"How are you feeling?" Yoshimura asked.

"Better," Kaneki said. "A little, at least."

"I'm glad," Yoshimura smiled. "When I heard what happened, I was afraid you might not recover."

"What exactly _did_ happen?" Kaneki asked.

"Your father was an extremely powerful kakuja," Yoshimura said. "So being a kakuja runs in your blood. You're more susceptible to its power and the insanity of not being able to control it than other ghouls would be."

"Is there a way to learn to control it?" Kaneki asked. "Just in case I can't stop myself from becoming it again?"

"As much as I know you don't want to, and as even though I know you have already promised Touka you wouldn't, the only way to do it is to continue eating ghouls," Yoshimura said. "You have to finish mutating into a full kakuja. As of right now, you're what's known as a half-kakuja. Half-kakuja are unable to retain their insanity and are little more than monsters. If you can cannibalize enough ghouls, you'll be able to control your kakuja. The stronger a ghoul is, the faster you'll mutate. Additionally, eating another kakuja will not only speed up your mutation, it will also grant you some of the abilities that kakuja had, as well as you being able to use them with your normal kagune."

"You're a kakuja, right?" Kaneki asked.

"I am," Yoshimura nodded. "As is my daughter. It will take time for you to gain control. And if you eat too much too fast, you'll probably lose control again."

"Understood," Kaneki nodded. "I'll be careful."

Yoshimura nodded and Kaneki stood. "I want to speak with Yomo."

"He'll be at his house," Yoshimura said. "Uta can likely direct you."

Kaneki nodded and left the room just as Hinami and Ryoko walked in.

"Kaneki!" Hinami cheered, hitting him with a flying hug, Kaneki laughing and hugging her back.

"It's good to see you two," Kaneki smiled. "How have you been?"

"Okay," Ryoko said.

"Kaneki guess what!" Hinami said excitedly.

"What?" Kaneki asked.

"Sen Takatsuki is having a book signing today!" Hinami said. "Can we go? Please?"

"Sure," Kaneki laughed. "Just let me get my eyepatch."

Hinami cheered and Kaneki walked back upstairs, finding Touka just stepping out of the bathroom, her only towel currently being used to dry her hair. Kaneki shouted in surprise, spinning away instantly, hearing the bathroom door close.

"You idiot!" Touka shouted. "Knock first!"

"I'm sorry!" Kaneki said. "I needed my eyepatch. Me and Hinami are going to a book signing."

"Are you sure you're okay to go?" Touka asked.

"Yes," Kaneki said. "I'll be okay. I'll see you when I get back."

"Wait, what did the manager say about your problem?" Touka asked.

"He...he said that the only way to stop it is to keep eating ghouls until I'm a full kakuja, and that once I am, I'll be able to control it," Kaneki said.

"I see," Touka said. "Be careful, okay? If you have to eat to gain control, then go ahead. Just be careful about it."

"I will," Kaneki said. "I'll see you soon, Touka."

He picked up his eyepatch and walked back downstairs to where Hinami was waiting excitedly. He smiled, pulling it on and they left. Ten minutes later, they reached the book signing and made their way through the line until it was finally their turn. Sen Takatsuki was different than he had expected. He had expected dark and gloomy. Instead, she was bright and cheerful, with messy green hair, loose clothing, and an intelligent glint in her eyes that didn't quite match her cheerful expression. There was also something else about her. He felt like his body just wouldn't settle down, and he felt a strong urge to manifest his kagune. He ignored it, having a discussion about her books with her for a few minutes before he and Hinami left with their signed copies. Once outside, they made their way back, heading through a back alley where Kaneki quickly ate the chunk of in-case-of-emergency meat he still carried with him.

"Hungry?" Hinami asked.

"I'm not sure," Kaneki said. "I felt...on edge, I guess. I think I was just hungry, but I'm not sure."

Hinami nodded. After a few more minutes, they reached Anteiku again and found everyone was out front. Kaneki got a cup of coffee and sat beside Touka, who blushed slightly but flashed him a smile before taking a sip. Kaneki sipped at his own thoughtfully. He wanted to see Rize, to apologize for having gotten her crushed. And he wanted to thank Yomo for saving her. However, he also had a few other things he wanted to do. Like spend as much time as he could with Touka until he felt like he was fully back to normal, and also learn to properly control his eye so he didn't need the eyepatch anymore.

* * *

Kaneki stepped up to the shipping container pile and knocked. Yomo opened the door after a moment and Kaneki smiled. Yomo stepped out of he way, letting Kaneki in, and Kaneki looked around. The shipping containers had been cut into an open house, with a ladder leading up out of the one they were in now and into the one above through a small square hole.

"So you really do live in a container," Kaneki said. "I like it."

"Thank you," Yomo said. "I assume you're here about Rize."

"I want to see her," Kaneki said.

"I don't think that's very wise," Yomo said.

"She's my sister," Kaneki said. "I have to."

"She won't recognize you," Yomo said. "I have only been feeding her enough for her to survive."

Kaneki nodded and Yomo sighed, walking to a side door and opening it. Kaneki stepped through and stared at Rize. She was chained to the floor and wearing some of Yomo's spare clothes. However, her hair was wiry, drool was running out of her mouth, and she was thin. Sickly. Yomo checked his watch and tossed a chunk of meat to her. She snatched it up instantly with her teeth, swallowing it practically whole before staring at them. Sure enough, Kaneki could tell that she didn't recognize him in the slightest. He sighed, stepping back into Yomo's house, Yomo following and closing the door.

"Yomo," Kaneki said. "You know that Anteiku's been found out, right?"

"Yes," Yomo nodded. "I know. It's only a matter of time before the CCG comes for Yoshimura. But you should know he'll never run away."

"I know," Kaneki said. "Just like how I'm not letting him fight them alone."

"I know," Yomo said. "And Touka won't let _you_ fight them without _her._ And Irimi and Koma will be helping Yoshimura to make up for their past sins, and I'll be keeping Touka away from the fight by force to make up for mine."

Kaneki nodded slowly before grinning.

"What?" Yomo asked.

"How closely related are you?" Kaneki asked.

"Excuse me?" Yomo blinked.

"You and Touka," Kaneki said. "You take care of her like a father, and your kagune is actually really close to hers."

"And also yours," Yomo pointed out.

"Closer to hers," Kaneki said.

"Because of the color," Yomo snorted. "But anyway, you're right. I'm her uncle."

"I see," Kaneki nodded. "Please protect her when the CCG comes."

"I will," Yomo nodded. "Please don't tell her."

Kaneki nodded and left, returning to Anteiku.

* * *

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	20. Chapter 20

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Rematch

Kaneki stared at the scene before him. He was a ways away still, just outside the twentieth ward, but still he could see the lights from gunfire, and hear the screams of dying Ghoul Investigators. Yoshimura had sent him to Itori to see if she knew anything about the CCG's plans, and when he was halfway, he found out that he had gotten out of the ward just as the CCG closed it off for their assault on Anteiku. Yoshimura had sent him away to protect him. Now, he, Koma, Irimi, and Koma and Irimi's old gangs were fighting the investigators.

"You're going, right?" Nishiki asked, landing behind him. "You're a fool, you know."

"I know," Kaneki said. "But I owe the Manager everything. I have to try. What about you? Will you come?"

"No," Nishiki said. "I'm going to go and see Kimi one more time. Then I'm going to get the fuck out of here."

"Why leave her?" Kaneki asked. "You don't have to. You could take her with you."

"I would never ask her to do that," Nishiki said. "She has a chance for a real life."

"And she loves you enough to use that genius brain of hers to find a way to have a real life _with you_ ," Kaneki said. "Go with her. You go into hiding and let her continue her life, but change your look so you can stay with her."

Nishiki remained silent as Kaneki pulled his mask over his head and down around his neck, pulling on the mask's eyepatch.

"Tell Nashiro and Kurona to take care of Banjou, Hinami, and the others for me until I get back," Kaneki said. "And tell Touka that I'll see her soon."

Nishiki nodded just as Tsukiyama landed behind Kaneki.

"I won't let you go," Tsukiyama said, tears rolling down his cheeks. "If the doves kill you, how can I eat you? Did you forget? YOU'RE MY PREY! ! !"

Kaneki turned toward him as Tsukiyama slashed at him. Kaneki easily evaded Tsukiyama's strikes for several moments before stepping forward and driving his hand into Tsukiyama's gut, dropping him to the ground. Then, he bit a chunk out of his arm and dropped it in front of Tsukiyama.

"I thank you for trying to stop me Tsukiyama," Kaneki said. "And for being a loyal friend despite everything. Please take care of yourself."

Then, he turned, leaping off of the building as he pulled his mask up. As he fell, he extended his wing on one side and his tentacles on the other, fattening them and forming them into a makeshift wing. He glided into the top level of a parking garage, hearing explosions a couple levels below himself, and sprinted through it. As he was nearing the attack, he heard a shout of pain. He knew the voice. Koma.

He skidded around the corner on the ramp, seeing Koma on the ground and an Investigator walking toward him with a quinque consisting of a large box with a handle on the side, and a large tube extending off of it in both directions. He sprinted forward, extending his tentacles. The dove spun toward him, swinging the weapon around, only for Kaneki to flip into the air over him and slash the weapon with his tentacles, slicing it into several pieces. Then, as he landed, he smashed the man away from Koma, picking Koma up and sprinting to the edge of the building, leaping off of it and down to the ground, darting into a nearby subway tunnel, then into the concealed entrance to the underground tunnels the ghouls of old had once used.

"Kaneki?" Koma asked. "I should have known you wouldn't do as you were supposed to."

"I won't stand by and watch friends die while I have the power to save them," Kaneki said, setting Koma against the wall and standing.

"What about Irimi?" Koma asked.

"I'm going to find her next," Kaneki said.

"Please save her," Koma said. "There's still a few things I want to say to her."

Kaneki nodded and turned, running back out to the street. He sprinted through the streets quickly, avoiding several groups of CCG troops before hearing a scream off to his left.

"Irimi!" Kaneki breathed, turning in that direction, shooting down a back alley before jumping onto a fire escape overlooking a battle.

Below him, Irimi was fighting four investigators, one with a golden cage-like object over his right arm with a wide flat spike in front of his fist and a long thin spike behind elbow, and three with katana-like quinque, who were clearly excellent at using it and better at working as a team. Just as he landed, Irimi was hit by multiple slashes and stabs by the three sword-wielding investigators, leaving her lying on the ground, blood pooling around her. One of the three investigators began to yell at the older one for attacking when there was an old lady nearby, but the older one argued that killing Irimi was more important. The younger dove eventually relented and led the elderly woman in question away.

Kaneki dropped to the ground, landing a short distance away, everyone turning toward him. The old man raised his quinque but Kaneki sent several shards from his wing at it, hitting it rapidly and shattering it. The man staggered away and Kaneki knelt beside Irimi.

"What are you...doing here?" Irimi asked as Kaneki's tentacle pulled her mask to them, Kaneki pulling it on her face. "You're not...supposed to..."

"Sh," Kaneki said. "It's alright. I'm here to help. I can't just stand by while my friends die."

"Is Koma alright?" Irimi asked, blood mixed with tears running down her cheeks as Kaneki lifted her into his arms.

"He's okay," Kaneki said. "His wounds were deep, but he'll survive."

"Figures," Irimi smiled, relieved. "That damn ape always _was_ too stubborn for his own good."

Kaneki smiled, turning as the three doves that still had weapons, a girl with her hair covering her face, a boy with disproportionately small eyes yet a powerful build, and the one that had been the most dangerous from what Kaneki had seen, all began to walk toward Kaneki. Kaneki extended his tentacles as the girl and the powerfully-built ones charged. They both sprinted forward, slashing at Kaneki only for Kaneki's tentacles to smash through their quinque, Kaneki's other two tentacles, smashing them away from him. The last one sprinted forward and Kaneki flipped over him, sending all four tentacles out, only for him to dodge it. Kaneki landed on his feet and narrowed his eyes. This one was smart. He knew better than to let Kaneki hit his quinque.

"You're a quick learner," Kaneki said, setting Irimi down gently. "I'll have to actually try with you, I think. What's your name?"

"Hirako," the dove said, charging.

Kaneki flipped over his first slash, flipping and kicking at Hirako, who spun around it, slashing at Kaneki. Kaneki drove his tentacles into the ground, flipping out of the way of the slash and firing several crystals as Hirako at point blank range, Hirako miraculously managing to avoid them. However, just as Kaneki landed, Hirako slashed at him and Kaneki drove his tentacles up through the blade. Hirako staggered backward before Kaneki drove both feet into his gut, launching him away. Kaneki picked Irimi up again, walking away from the fight and into the underground tunnels, heading for Koma.

"I need you and Koma to find a way out," Kaneki said as he walked. "I'm going to go and try to help the Manager next."

"You idiot," Irimi said. "The whole point of this fight was for us to die so that they would think we were _all_ killed. If they don't think that, they'll hunt you."

Kaneki smiled, setting Irimi next to Koma. "Let me handle that. Where are we meeting up after I save the Manager?"

"V fourteen," Irimi sighed. "Even if the rest of the routes are discovered and blocked off, they can't possibly make it that deep."

"Alright," Kaneki said. "I'll see you there."

Irimi nodded and Kaneki said his goodbyes before turning to leave.

"Kaneki," Irimi said. "There's a lot of Special Class Investigators fighting the Manager. You fought one when you were in your Kakuja form. Be careful not to die."

"I will," Kaneki said. "If I don't get the chance...Tell Touka I love her."

"I will," Irimi nodded.

Kaneki left the tunnels, heading into the street. This time, instead of avoiding the doves, he charged straight through them. He used his tentacles first, slashing their guns and quinques rapidly, knocking out some of the doves who tried to get in his way anyway. As the doves began to try to shoot him, Kaneki leapt into the air, firing crystal shards out of his wing and smashing guns everywhere, wounding numerous doves without killing anyone. He landed on the wall, leaping off as it exploded with gunfire. More crystal shards. As he landed, he spun, tentacles whipping out and smashing guns, sending doves lying into each other. He took off, breaking though the doves' lines rapidly before slowing to a stop. There was a clear area around him, with a sea of doves in front of him, a single Investigator standing before the rest, massive quinque in hand.

"I don't want to fight you," Kaneki said, leaping onto the wall of a building and running along it.

"That's not your choice!" Amon shouted, hurling on of the two halves of his quinque into the wall before Kaneki before firing at Kaneki with a machine gun.

Kaneki leapt back to the ground, sighing as the half Amon had thrown began to deconstruct itself, reforming attached to the other half. Amon threw the gun aside as Kaneki extended his tentacles. Amon separated his blades, preparing himself to fight.

"May I know your name?" Kaneki asked.

"Koutarou Amon," Amon said. "And I'm going to take you down!"

He charged, slashing at Kaneki rapidly, Kaneki avoiding and blocking the strikes, striking back when he could. Amon was good, though. He had been training a lot since their last fight. Kaneki flipped over a slash, slamming his tentacles into one of Amon's blades. Amon stumbled back, slashing at Kaneki and Kaneki drilled his tentacles into the blade to counter. Even as he recoiled, Amon swung the other. Kaneki blocked it, shoving it away before spinning, one tentacle tripping Amon before the other three shot out, moving to catch his limbs. Amon flipped, landing on his hands and feet and flipping out of the way of the tentacles, then lunged, slashing at Kaneki with both. Kaneki swung an arm, all four tentacles crashing into the quinque. Both staggered back and Kaneki's tentacles swung upward at Amon from below. He crossed his blades and the tentacles slammed into them, hurling him backward. As he crashed tot he ground, the ends of both blades stabbed into the ground on either side of his head. Kaneki sighed. He had done it. The quinques were broken. Which meant he was free to continue.

"Investigator Amon!" a voice shouted as a jeep skidded to a stop off to the side, everyone staring at it, Amon pushing himself up.

The man driving hurled a pair of briefcases to Amon, one silver and the other black. The black one snapped open, metal sludge shooting out and covering him before transforming into armor similar to what Shinohara had been wearing, except with a beaked mask. The other briefcase, Amon opened and it transformed into a lance with a conical head. Kaneki recognized it. It was Amon's first quinque, the one he had broken the first time they fought. It looked to have been repaired. And probably upgraded.

"I see you got it fixed," Kaneki said as it began to rain, the rain pounding down around them rapidly. "I'll just have to break it again, then, won't I?"

Suddenly, Amon appeared in front of Kaneki, smashing the side of the lance into him and sending him flying backward. Kaneki bounced several times before flipping, landing on his feet and using his tentacles to slow to a stop. He wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Ouch," Kaneki said. "Nice hit."

Amon charged again, his quinque clashing rapidly with Kaneki's tentacles. Each time they met, the tentacle was destroyed. Kaneki grit his teeth, flipping over a stab and sent his tentacles at Amon's back. They crashed into his back hard, none of them getting through his armor. Instead, Amon shot away, blasting into the wall of a back alley just before Kaneki crashed into him, once again his tentacles failing to break through the armor. Amon bounced down the alleyway, rolling to a stop in a side-street where there were no CCG troops. Kaneki flipped, landing a short distance from Amon as Amon stood.

"So, Amon," Kaneki said. "Who is it?"

"What?" Amon asked.

"The person you're fighting to protect," Kaneki said. "No one, regardless of who you are, can get as strong as you are without having something to protect. I can see it in your eyes, in your movements. You're in love. And you're trying to keep me away from them. Trying to protect them from me. So who is it?"

"You're actually very intelligent," Amon smirked. "It's the same person that had this quinque reforged."

"Then why are you not at her side right now?" Kaneki asked.

Amon's shoulders sank slightly, barely noticeable to anyone who wasn't watching.

"So you're not together, then?" Kaneki asked. "Because she didn't want to?"

Amon's shoulders sank further.

"Because of you, then," Kaneki stated. "Amon. You idiot. If you love someone, especially in your line of work, you should never, ever, push them away. No matter the reason. Tell her how you feel. Be with her. All you have to do first, is let me pass. I'm not breaking that quinque. It was a gift from the love of your life, so I'm letting you keep it. First, however, I'm going to have to knock you out. For appearances sake."

"You're with the Rabbit, right?" Amon asked. "So then, maybe, when I mount your head on a spike, she'll be angry enough to come after me, and I can mount her head right beside her, as a gift to Akira."

"I see," Kaneki said, extending his tentacles again, along with his wing, which he crystalized instantly. "Then I guess there's no choice in the matter. I'll take you down to protect her. Let's see who is more desperate to protect their loved ones."

Amon charged, stabbing at Kaneki who dodged around it, driving his tentacles into Amon's armor rapidly. Then, he leaped back as Amon swiped his lance at him. Kaneki fired a barrage of crystal shads, all of them bouncing off of Amon's armor, except for one that got stuck between two of the plates just below Amon's right shoulder. Kaneki flipped, landing on his feet and stared at the crystal shard, Amon ripping it out of his arm and hurling it away. Kaneki curled his crystalized wing around his arm, turning it into a sword like a koukaku kagune. Amon charged, swiping at Kaneki rapidly, Kaneki blocking and deflecting the blows with his wing. Then, he shoved the lance upward and drilled his wing into Amon's right arm. The wing bounced off but Amon staggered backward and then lunged, stabbing at Kaneki. Kaneki sidestepped it, slashing upward at Amon's arm, his wing's blade being propelled by his tentacles slamming into the back side of it. Then, just as Kaneki's wing sliced off Amon's arm, two bone tail-like kagune burst out of Amon's quinque, one of them tearing a chunk out of Kaneki's side. Kaneki flew sideways, crashing into a building and dropping to the ground, blood pooling around him.

"I'm not...healing?" Kaneki breathed, staring at the wound before looking up at Amon. "I'm...sorry. I didn't want...to do that."

Amon, who was on his knees and using his lance to stay off the ground, looked over at him before collapsing. Kaneki rolled onto his stomach, dragging himself over as Amon's armor disintegrated. Kaneki ripped a piece of Amon's pants off, tying it around his arm tightly, enough to stop the bleeding. Then, he pushed himself up, wrapping a tentacle around the wound to slow the bleeding. He turned, staggering away from Amon.

"Help!" Kaneki shouted. "Get a medic!"

He heard shouting from a couple streets away and used three tentacles as legs, quickly fleeing from the area as several doves arrived, finding Amon. After about two blocks, all of Kaneki's tentacles disintegrated and he fell into a manhole, splashing down in the sewer. He groaned, pushing himself up as he felt his side throb agonizingly. He needed to eat, his head was spinning, his side hurt like a bitch, and his stomach was twisting itself into knots. He was starving. He needed food. Man. Woman. Human. Ghoul. He didn't care what he ate at this point. He just needed food. He pulled his mask down, sniffing, only for his kakuja mask to form. He grabbed it, trying to pull. But suddenly, he wasn't in the sewer. He was standing in a void filled with a water floor, and Yamori and Rize were climbing out of the water, grabbing him, tearing at his flesh, biting him, dragging him down.

"Give me your body!" Rize demanded, voice somewhere between a hiss and a growl.

"No!" Kaneki shouted, trying to fight them off. "It's mine! It's mine! Leave me alone!"

"Yo, Kaneki!" a voice called out from behind him, making him snap back to reality and turn, a delicious smell reaching his nose. He stared as Hide walked toward him. "What's with that getup? Is that some new style? Hey, nice mask."

"Hide..." Kaneki breathed. "No, I'm seeing things again. Hide can't be here. If he was, he'd know I'm...I'm a..."

"I already knew," Hide smiled. "I always knew. It's alright. It doesn't matter. Let's just go home."

"Hide, you have to go," Kaneki said.

"That's a pretty nasty wound," Hide said.

"I'm so hungry," Kaneki said. "If you don't go...I'll..."

"Going by the situation on the surface, and the way they've set up their defenses, the chance of any ghoul sneaking out of here is slim," Hide continued, kneeling before Kaneki and resting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. But can you fight with everything you've got one last time? It's the only way for you to escape."

Kaneki tried to stand but his side throbbed and his vision swam before going black. His head went numb and finally, unconsciousness took him.

* * *

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	21. Chapter 21

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Reaper

Kaneki stirred, groaning and opening his eyes. He was no longer in pain, and he felt well rested. He could also taste blood. He sat up, looking around. No Hide. No corpses. He stood, looking around. After several minutes, he walked through the sewer tunnels until he reached the ghoul tunnels below them. Then, he continued walking, making his way slowly toward V14. He didn't think about the blood, or about Hide, or his side. If he had, he probably would have broken.

Finally, he stopped, finding himself at a large open room with flowers lining the floor, and a single man in a spotless, pure white coat with matching white hair and a pair of glasses watching him. Kaneki stared at the man. The scene was beautiful. Even given who the man was. Kishou Arima. The CCG's White Reaper. Kaneki blinked, staring at the flowers. No. Not flowers. Corpses. Dozens of them. Arima had killed them all. Black Dogs. Apes. Dozens of ghouls, all killed by a single man, who didn't have a single scratch, or a spot of blood on him. In his hand was a long black quinque that had a jousting-lance-like blade with a finger guard over the two-hand-length grip. In his other, was a silver briefcase.

"Koma, Irimi," Kaneki breathed. "I...I failed you. Manager."

 _"I'm sorry, but can you fight with everything you've got one last time?"_

"Hide," Kaneki breathed. "I...I failed everyone."

Arima began to walk toward him and Kaneki felt fear, despair, and anger fill him. He had failed. He was going to die. Arima had killed his friends. Pain erupted from his back as a massive centipede burst out of it once again, his kagune armor spreading over his body. He charged, the centipede shooting out at Arima, who easily stepped out of the way. Then, as Kaneki reached him, Kaneki's side burst open, blood spraying out yet missing Arima. Then, Arima turned, driving his quinque through the back of Kaneki's head, the tip extending out of his left eye, shattering his mask. Kaneki screamed, the sound deafening as he collapsed to the ground, clutching at his head and babbling incoherently between screams. Finally, two tentacles reached up to it, ripping it out and hurling it, allowing Kaneki to stand. Arima opened the other briefcase, raising a long white quinque with four long, flat, blade-like things extending from the round guard. Then, just as he was pointing it at Kaneki, lightning exploded out from the middle of the circle of blades, flying at Kaneki, tearing the ground apart wherever it hit. Kaneki sprinted away from it, his centipedes, three of them, exploding out of his back again, along with eight tentacles, these one more rough and more like insect legs than tentacles. The centipedes and tentacles all shot toward Arima, who picked up his black lance and set it on the ground, an oddly-shaped shield extending from it, blocking the strikes, cracks spreading over it in several places. Arima skidded backward several feet before suddenly, mechanical tentacles ending in spikes burst out of the ground below Kaneki, impaling him in several places. He screamed again, a tentacle cutting him free before he charged at Arima.

"You're very good," Arima said. "I didn't expect you to damage Ixa's shield. I'll need a new quinque now."

Kaneki's tentacles and centipedes exploded forward, blasting along the ground and through the large round pillars around the room, flooding through the room as they sought to land even one strike on Arima. but try as Kaneki might, Arima calmly stepped around each and every strike with an inhuman ease. Finally, Kaneki reached Arima, three tentacles having wrapped around his arm to form a clawed hand. He slashed at Arima but Arima knocked the strike aside with his black lance. Then, he swung the other quinque, which had flattened its ring of four metal pieces into a single blade. Kaneki used a tentacle to jump back, a single gash being opened across his chest. Then, as Kaneki landed on his feet, his centipedes shot out again, Arima again avoiding them easily.

"Remote activation," Arima said.

Mechanical tentacles burst out of the ground again, stabbing Kaneki through the chest, lifting him into the air as his kagune and kakuja armor all exploded off of him. Faces filled his mind. Yoshimura. Yomo. Irimi. Koma. Hide. Kurona. Nashiro. Tsukiyama. Banjou. Nishiki. Ryoko. Hinami. Kaneki crashed down on his back as Arima stepped up beside him, still perfectly clean and unharmed. Kaneki stared up at the lance above him until it fell, robbing him of his sight. Touka's face filled his mind. She smiled, holding her hand out to him. He wanted to reach out to her, but he couldn't move. He couldn't even twitch a finger. And Touka was fading. He fought to keep her there, to just keep her face in his mind, but try as he might, she began to slip away too.

* * *

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	22. Chapter 22

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Information

Haise Sasaki sat down in front of the glass, staring at the ghoul behind it, an elderly man who had once been a priest who ran an orphanage and preyed on the children that lived there. Donato Porpora. Sasaki was a Rank One Investigator in the CCG. He was serving under First Class Investigator Akira Mado and in charge of a team of experimental half-ghoul investigators known as the Quinx. Among them were Saiko Yonebayashi, Tooru Mutsuki, Shirazu, and Kuki Urie. They were closely monitored by the CCG's head scientist to make sure they didn't become more ghoul than human, and they were generally given pointless mission. However, in the last meeting Sasaki had attended, it had been brought up that Sasaki's subordinates, Shirazu and Urie, had gone off on their own to hunt an A Rank ghoul named Torso, instead finding someone else. Sasaki had arrived after they had defeated him, and had stopped them killing him, sending him instead to Cochlea. The leader of the squad in charge of finding Torso, Shimoguchi, had been angry that they had tried to take his target, and even angrier that, while trying to find Shirazu and Urie in order to help them, Sasaki had asked for the investigation data on Torso. Mado had covered for him, claiming he was doing it on her behalf, and that if Sasaki was put on the case, he could have identified Torso within a month. The third squad leader at the meeting, Take Hirako, had stopped the argument before it could continue, ordering them to work together and share all relevant data. So, now here Sasaki was, inside an interrogation cell at Cochlea, asking a ghoul for his perspective on the case.

"Welcome Investigator Sasaki," the Donato smiled kindly. "How may I be of service today?"

"We're trying to catch the ghoul called Torso," Sasaki said. "I'll bring up the information."

As he typed on his computer, images appeared on the glass. A map with spots marked off around the city. A description of the remains. Not much else.

"His feeding spots are pretty spread out, and he only ever eats the torso of his victims, which are all female," Sasaki explained. "He leaves the head and limbs."

"I see," Donato nodded. "Well, to understand the feeding habits, you need to understand ghoul kind. The head is an important part for the ghouls. The eyes display emotions, the mouth spits out words. The head transmits a large amount of information. Leaving it untouched could mean that he is trying to hide his identity. This could mean that he has a normal job and has blended in with society. Combining that with the information about his hunting grounds, and you can assume he is using a vehicle to hunt, and that he has knowledge of the roads. For example, a job that would include all of this would be a taxi driver."

Sasaki's eyes widened. Urie had been giving him taxi receipts as job expenses recently. A lot of them. Almost two hundred thousand yen. Clearly Urie had already figured out that Torso was using a taxi. He was smart.

"Thank you for the information," Sasaki said, closing the computer and standing.

Beside him, Mutsuki did the same. As they turned to leave, Donato spoke up again.

"Sasaki. There's another case I'd like to speak with you about. Next time you visit, come alone."

Sasaki left, walking toward the exit with Mutsuki.

"Investigator Sasaki, why does the CCG allow a ghoul like him to live?" Mutsuki asked. "When I look into his eyes, all I can see is evil."

"It's because he's a valuable information provider," Sasaki said. "Eventually, he'll be disposed of by the CCG, but until then, he has to prove he's useful."

 _"But isn't that also true about you?"_ a voice at the back of his head asked, Sasaki suddenly finding himself in a different place, a place with a checkered floor and endless white around him.

A pair of clammy hands closed around his neck, squeezing, crushing it. The person moved forward, placing their head beside his, but he couldn't turn to look at them.

 _"You have to prove your own usefulness as well, or else you'll be disposed of also, right? Haise?"_ The voice hissed.

Sasaki sat bolt upright, gasping for breath. He looked around. He was in his home. In the living room with pictures and information about Torso scattered over the coffee table. He had fallen asleep looking for them. He barely remembered getting home. He had been too focused on Donato's information. He wasn't even sure where the dream had started and his day had ended.

"I'm exhausted," Sasaki sighed. "How does Akira do this?"

He picked up a picture of one of the corpses. The corpse had had the head cut off, along with the legs. He stared at the legs.

"Why would you cut the legs off of something that you were going to kill anyway?" Sasaki muttered. "Normally it'd be so it couldn't get away, right? Wait, it's insecurity. You're afraid of them leaving. Like a lover with abandonment issues. So then, the torsos of your victims are lovers. Maybe there's some connection between the victims. Something specific to their torsos, maybe? Dammit. I'm too tired for this. I'll get on that tomorrow."

He packed up the papers and walked up to his room, dropping them on the bed and dropping his coat on the floor, staring into the mirror. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his hair was a mess. He stared at it. He had always hated having such unique hair. Black in the center and white on the edges. He had no idea why his hair was white at one point, or why it had begun to turn black over the last two years he had been a ghoul investigator. He didn't remember anything from before then. He knew that he had been trained by Kishou Arima to wield a Quinque and his kagune, since he was the original Quinx member, at least, as it had been explained to him. He also had to deal with being unable to eat normal food. He had to have a special kind of stew prepared for him by the CCG. He had been told that it was to suppress his RC cells, allowing him to eat it, but he wasn't so sure. He had put RC suppressants in human food but he hadn't been able to keep it down. He was almost afraid to know what he was actually eating.

Another problem that had plagued him since waking up two years ago, was the fact that a voice, and sometimes a person, plagued his dreams every so often, mostly when he went too long without eating, something that he only had to do once every couple days, unlike a normal person, or the other Quinx. He knew who the voice was. Deep down. It was him. His past self, from before he lost his memory. And he knew that if he ever accepted that person, he would no longer exist as Haise Sasaki.

He lay on his bed, sighing and draping an arm across his eyes. A face began to swim into his mind. A smile. They were beautiful. He knew that was true, but he couldn't quite picture the face. He couldn't remember what they looked like, or who they were. He wanted to remember, he wanted to know, but the face began to slop away. Finally, sleep claimed him.

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	23. Chapter 23

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Serpent

Haise sprinted to his bike and swore as he climbed on, speeding off. He called the police, calling for any and all roads leading away from the hospital Mutsuki had been at to be blocked off. Mutsuki wasn't answering, which for him was definitely a sign of trouble. He sped down the road quickly, trying Urie and Shirazu, getting no answer. He heard a crash from a few streets away and turned that way, speeding through the side streets and back alleys heading toward it. For a moment, he felt a sense of deja vu as he sped down an alleyway and skidded around a corner, gaining a sort of weightless feeling. However, before he could figure out why he was feeling it, he spotted his team, all three hurt. Shirazu less than the other two, but Urie looked down for the count and Mutsuki was bruised, bloodied, swelling, and had a hole in each shoulder.

As the ghoul they were facing, one in a large trench coat with a snake-themed mask and a long blue snake-like tail, leapt at Mutsuki, Shirazu leapt at him, blasting him at point blank range with his Ukaku kagune, a spike of bone-like Rc cells from the left shoulder that fired explosive spikes of bones from the front. Serpent flipped, landing on his feet and dusting his coat off, standing, completely unharmed. Suddenly, Urie bit his forearm, trying to rip a chunk out. Haise sped forward, jumping off of his bike as it hit a car, launching himself toward his team. As he fell in front of them, Serpent's tail shot toward them. Kaneki drew his quinque, a simple katana-type, and landed in front of them, holding out the quinque and bracing his hand against it as the tail hit it, splitting down the middle a short ways before stopping.

"Well well, another one," Serpent said, pulling his tail back and allowing it to retract into his back. "You seem familiar."

Haise sprinted forward, slashing at Serpent rapidly, Serpent evading the strikes one after another. Haise struck at his head, his torso, his legs, his torso again, his arms, a stab at the throat. Haise spun, slashing at Serpent's waist and Serpent leapt backward. Haise pursued him.

"Don't...touch...my...squad!" Haise shouted, each word emphasized by a slash, all of which Serpent evaded.

"Just shut up for now," Serpent said, ducking under a slash and kicking Haise, launching him away into the side of a cop car. "Okay?"

Haise, pushed himself up, gritting his teeth. Serpent was strong. He definitely deserved his S rating. Haise sighed, cracking his neck as he prepared himself to use his kagune. He hated doing it. It always came with the voice. Like it made the other him stronger. Sure enough, as he began to manifest his kagune, he found himself in a room made entirely out of checkered tiles, with the other him gripping his shoulder from behind.

"Hey," the other him said. "You're as weak as ever, I see. You can't protect anything. Not your squad. Not Akira, or Arima. Not even yourself. At this rate, your squad's going to die. You need me. Let me fight him. I'll tear him apart. Just accept me and I'll save your squad."

"Shut up," Haise said, forcing himself back to reality and tossing his coat aside. "Mutsuki, contact Akira and Arima. Let them know the situation. I'll handle Serpent from here."

He pressed his index finger toward his palm with his thumb until it cracked loudly. His tentacles exploded out of his back, flailing behind him for a moment before he cracked his neck and grinned, raising his quinque. Serpent stared at him in silence before Haise charged. Serpent's tail shot out at him but Haise flipped into the air, spinning and sending out his tentacles, which combined into a massive arm ending with a three-clawed hand. The hand crashed into Serpent's tail, smashing it instantly before Haise landed in front of Serpent, driving his tentacles at him as he slashed with his sword. Serpent evaded the strikes, barely managing to keep ahead of Haise's attacks. He used his tail to deflect blows from the tentacles, avoiding the quinque altogether. Then, finally, he saw an opening. As his tail knocked the tentacles upward, Serpent ducked under a slash from Haise's sword and stepped forward, beginning to rapidly slam his foot into Haise's gut in a blinding series of devastating kicks. blood flew from Haise's mouth as his quinque sailed away from , Serpent caught Haise's arms and drove his foot completely through Haise's abdomen, yanking it back before smashing his tail into him, launching him away. Haise flipped through the air before crashing down on the ground.

 _It's no use,_ Haise thought. _I won't be able to heal in time._

 _"Haise."_ the other him hissed.

Haise's wound began to heal as he pushed himself up, grinning and holding out a hand, stopping Mutsuki, who had been moving to help him.

"Stay back," he smiled, stretching his arms and back, a strange sort of peace filling him, along with a certain confidence. "That's an order from your superior."

He turned back to Serpent, grinning. Serpent's tail coiled up, preparing to be used.

"Compared to those brats, you're much more interesting," Serpent said.

"I'm flattered," Haise said. "But I think it's better if you don't know me. Right?"

His left eye turned red as he cracked his finger again. Then, he lunged, a tentacle growing out of his back and flattening into a blade, curling around his right arm before extending out ward as he slashed it at Serpent. Serpent ducked under it, the blade slicing off his tail. Then, as Serpent turned to run, a tentacle burst out of the ground, impaling him. He coughed, blood splattering across the inside of his mask. Then, Haise drove three more tentacles through his abdomen.

"That's payback for earlier," Haise said, dropping him to the ground.

As Serpent hit the ground, his mask fell off. Haise walked over, only to stop as he reached Serpent, staring at him.

"If you keep this up, you're gonna kill me," Serpent said, staring at Haise as Haise stared back. "Geez, what is it with you? You're hopeless. Kaneki."

"N...Nishiki?" Haise breathed.

Suddenly, pain exploded through his head from behind his eyes. He shouted in pain, falling to his knees and clutching at his head, his shout turning into a scream as Serpent retrieved his mask, putting it on before leaping onto an overpass and disappearing just as several cars pulled up. As the investigator inside stepped out, Haise's tentacles exploded out of his back, flailing around rapidly as Haise screamed. Hirako and his team opened their briefcases, readying their quinque before charging, avoiding Haise's initial strike and removing his tentacles. Then, Akira, positioned on a building overlooking the area, fired her sniper rifle, placing a bullet through Haise's forehead.

* * *

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	24. Chapter 24

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Replacement

Haise groaned, sitting up slowly, one hand held to his head. The last thing he remembered was having Serpent's foot drill a hole through him. He stood beside the bed, finding it was soaked in sweat. A note beside the bed caught his attention, and when he picked it up, he saw it was from Akira.

"Haise, I know you're curious about what happened, especially since you always get acute amnesia when you have an incident, so I'll explain. You lost control and fought Serpent. You won, but suffered a complete breakdown, allowing both Torso and Serpent to escape. Hirako and his team showed up and stopped your rampage and we were able to subdue you. Take it easy for a day."

Haise sighed, walking to his dresser and getting some fresh clothes before showering and brushing his teeth, then getting dressed before heading downstairs, finding his team, minus Saiko, in the living room.

"Urie," Haise said as he stepped into the room, Urie standing and walking over, the others standing off to the side.

As soon as Urie was within reach, Haise slapped him, hard. Urie remained silent, Haise glaring at him.

"You're a fool," Haise said. "You almost got Shirazu and Mutsuki killed. I saw what you were doing. Even if you _had_ gotten your kagune back by eating a piece of your own arm, what would you have done? You weren't fast enough to hit Serpent, you weren't strong enough to defeat him if you _did_ hit him. In a situation like that, you should have run away."

"Showing your back to the enemy is arguably just as dangerous as fighting," Urie said. "At least fighting you would have known where to find us and reach us faster. If we had run, there's a chance he'd have followed us and you might not have caught up in time."

"But if you had continued to fight him head on you _definitely_ would have gotten your subordinates killed," Haise said. "I've decided that you're unfit to be the squad leader. You're fired."

"I'll improve," Urie said.

"I'm firing you so that you _can_ improve," Haise said.

"I can't accept this," Urie said.

"I don't care what you can or can't accept," Haise said. "I've let you do what you want for the most part since this team was formed. In that time you have routinely disobeyed orders, fought against everything I've told you to do, and argued with me about everything. You're not a part of this team because you don't want to be, so there's no way I'm going to leave you _in charge_ of this team. I'm the higher ranking investigator, and I am also your superior. I'm firing you and there's nothing you can do about it."

"I don't listen to ghouls," Urie said.

Haise's eye twitched just before Shirazu's foot crashed into Urie's gut. Urie crashed to the ground and Shirazu grabbed him by the collar, getting in his face.

"Urie!" Shirazu shouted. "YOU PIECE OF SHIT! ! ! Sassan saved our lives at the risk of his own! If you're calling him a ghoul than you're worse than a ghoul! I'll kill you right here!"

"Just try it!" Urie snarled.

"Urie," Mutsuki spoke up. "I want you to apologize to Sasaki."

Urie stared at her.

"Shirazu, let him go," Haise finally spoke up. "It doesn't matter what he says, the dismissal is final. Besides, I've already selected a new squad leader."

"Really?" Shirazu asked, standing. "Who is it?"

"It's you," Haise said. "Ginshi Shirazu. You're the new squad leader."

"Wait, what!?" Shirazu gaped. "Hold on a sec! Isn't this a smart person's job? I did the worst in class out of everyone!"

"That may be true, but you care about your subordinates first and foremost," Haise said. "You'll put their best interests in front of anything else. That's why I'm appointing you squad leader, that way we'll actually have a squad for you to lead, despite Urie's best efforts."

"Fuck you," Urie grumbled.

"Fair warning Urie," Haise said, turning and walking toward the door. "If you get too defiant I'll have no choice but to devour you. You know, since I'm just a ghoul and all."

With that, he left the room, heading to the CCG building and heading to Arima's office. He knocked as he arrived and Arima opened the door, smiling and stepping out of the way.

"Welcome Haise," Arima greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"Good," Haise said as Arima walked back to the massive desk he had in the middle of his massive office.

Arima climbed onto one end of the large rectangular desk, Haise on the other. The desk was one of those ones that's a ring around a hole, so the part they were standing on was actually pretty thin, which is why Arima made Haise fight him on it, to make sure he had good footing. Once they were on the desk, Haise explained what had happened during their last mission, as well as his appointing Shirazu as the new squad leader. Arima nodded as he listened.

"You appointed Shirazu?" Arima asked. "An interesting choice. It's just like you."

"He may not be the smartest on the team, but he cares about the others," Haise said as Arima charged, stabbing at him with a pen and throwing punches and kicks as well, Haise blocking and dodging the strikes. "I also want Urie to use this as an opportunity to improve his character."

"You sound like a parent," Arima said.

"That sounds about right," Haise said. "They're like my high-maintenance children."

Then, as he was avoiding a stab from Arima's pen, Arima's foot crashed into his gut, launching him backward onto the floor before Arima stepped up over him, holding the pen in front of his eye.

"I give up," Haise said.

"You're getting stronger, but you're still too slow," Arima said. "You should work on the lag between your upper and lower body."

"I will," Haise said, standing as Arima turned to walk toward some papers on the other end of the desk. "Arima, can we talk for a minute?"

"Let me guess, you heard the voice again?" Arima asked.

"Yes," Haise nodded. "I tried to fight him off but he kept whispering in my ear. I know that's the former version of me. And I'm terrified that if he ever takes over, I'll cease to exist. I don't want that. I'm happy where I am. I like the friends I've made here."

"What about the friends and family you left behind?" Arima asked.

A face flashed into Haise's mind, blurry, except for the smile. She had a beautiful smile. It was the face he had been trying to remember before.

"I'm not concerned with them," Haise said. "I already have a family."

Arima smiled slightly. "I'll be sure to stop by the chateau soon. I want to borrow another book."

"You don't have to go through all that trouble," Haise said. "I can just bring it to you."

"That's okay," Arima said. "I want to see my grandkids as well."

Haise smiled and nodded as Arima walked away. Haise walked over as well, seeing what he was working on. He had about five different cases on his desk, a small work load for him. The two talked for a little while longer before Haise left. He headed to Akira's office next. It was starting to get late, but she usually stayed until it was well past midnight before she would go home to shower and rest.

"Haise, there you are," Akira smiled. "You did it. You identified Torso's face within a month."

"I didn't actually see his face," Haise said. "Mutsuki did that. I just got there in time to fight Serpent."

"Yes, about that," Akira said. "Only the people who were present for it know that you lost control. People like Shimoguchi won't hear about it."

"Thank you," Haise said. "So, how was the investigation of Torso's home?"

"All of the torsos were there," Akira said. "Even when looking at it as a ghoul's residence, it's still a bizarre sight. There were-" She stopped as her phone rang and opened it, holding it to her ear. After a moment, her eyes widened and she closed it instantly. "Shimoguchi's squad was attacked by Aogiri Tree's Rabbit. Shimoguchi was the only survivor. He's headed to the hospital now."

"We should go first thing in the morning," Haise said.

Akira nodded in agreement. "Go home and get some rest, Haise. I'll be by the chateau tomorrow to pick you up."

Haise nodded and left, heading home and going to bed.

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	25. Chapter 25

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Coffee

"So Sassan, any ideas how Shirazu Squad is going to catch our next target?" Shirazu asked, pushing his false glasses up his nose, only for Haise to snatch them off his face and toss them aside. "Hey! I was just trying to look the part!"

"Since Shimoguchi's squad was attacked by Aogiri's Black Rabbit, the Torso case was handed over to S3," Haise said, ignoring Shirazu's complaint as he walked down the sidewalk, Mutsuki and Shirazu following, Urie and Saiko both missing, as usual. "Our next target is a ghoul known as Nutcracker. She works in the Red Light District. Her rating's still under review."

"Why's she called Nutcracker?" Mutsuki asked.

"Apparently she has a thing for crushing men's testicles," Haise said.

"Ouch," Shirazu said.

"By the way, Squad Leader Shirazu, may I ask why Urie and Saiko aren't accompanying us?" Haise asked, turning toward them.

"I saw Urie this morning but he wasn't feeling good," Shirazu said. "He said he was going to see Dr. Shiba."

Haise stared at him in surprise.

"He seemed to think there was something off with his frame," Shirazu said. "Said he might have to stay in the hospital for a few days."

Haise nodded. The frame system set up around the other Quinx members' kakuho was experimental. To say that the fight with Serpent had knocked something loose or messed with it in some way was entirely believable.

"You should have reported to me as soon as you found out," Haise said.

"Sorry about that," Shirazu said.

"It's alright," Haise said, turning and continuing down the street. "Just make sure you do better next time. What about Saiko?"

"We tried to wake her up this morning, but there was no answer," Mutsuki said. "We couldn't get into her room because the door was locked."

"I really hope she didn't die of ham poisoning," Shirazu said.

"Ham what?" Haise asked.

"So anyway," Mutsuki said. "Are we working with anyone else on the nutcracker case, or are we alone?"

"We'll be working with Suzuya Squad," Haise said.

"Wait, you mean _the_ Suzuya?" Shirazu asked. "The weird one?"

"His knife skills are excellent, so I was hoping he could teach Mutsuki," Haise said. "Besides that, his squad is in charge of the thirteenth district, so we're technically supporting them."

"Are you and Suzuya friends?" Shirazu asked.

"That's...complicated," Haise said. "The first time I met him he gave me some money. He said he was returning it."

"What the fuck?" Shirazu said, confused.

"I suppose if I had to say one way or the other I'd say were were friends," Haise decided before stopping as he smelled something delicious.

He looked around, seeing they were beside a coffee shop. The sign said the name was ":re" and that it was open. He looked to the others and they both shrugged and nodded. The three of them walked into the shop and Haise smiled as he inhaled the smell of coffee. He smiled, looking around to see a man with white hair drying a plate behind the coffee shop's counter. The man stared at him, blank-faced, and continued to dry the plate. Normally, Haise would have felt unwelcome, or unnerved to have someone staring, but for some reason this powerfully built, and mildly intimidating, man didn't scare him at all. In fact, he felt sort of calm.

"Oh come on Yomo," a voice called from the back of the shop, Haise's entire body stiffening and his heart suddenly pounding in his ears as soon as he heard it. "How many times do we have to go over this? When customers come in, it's your job to greet them and..."

Haise stared at the woman that had stepped out from the back. She wore black shoes and pants, a pale pink shirt, a black apron, violet eyes, and had shoulder length blue hair, her bangs hanging over her right eye. But even with half of her face hidden, he knew her face instantly. It was the one that he had been trying to remember for days. The two stared at each other for longer than necessary, yet Haise couldn't make himself look away. He couldn't even move. Her beauty had him entranced. Even if he hadn't been struggling to remember her, he probably still would have been. Finally, pain lanced through his head from his eyes and he winced, holding a hand to his head and finally managing to look away.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Just a headache," Haise lied, sitting down at the table Shirazu and Mutsuki had chosen.

"What can I get you?" she asked.

"Three coffees," Haise said.

She nodded, walking away and Haise's eyes glued themselves to the back of her head as she did. Finally she stepped out of the room and Haise glanced at Yomo, who was still staring at him emotionlessly.

"Haise, are you alright?" Mutsuki asked. "You've been acting strangely."

"I...I'm fine," Haise smiled. "Really."

A couple of minutes later, the woman walked back out, Haise once again staring at her. She set their coffee cups on the table and Haise tore his eyes away, looking down at the coffee and picked it up, sipping it. The moment he did, pain lanced through his head again. He didn't care about that though. He was more concerned with the hollow feeling suddenly filling his chest, and the tear sliding down his cheek.

"Yo, Sassan, are you okay?" Shirazu asked. "If the coffee's no good, you don't have to drink it."

"I'm fine," Haise said. "This coffee is delicious. I don't know why I'm crying."

After another moment, she returned to the back of the store and Haise finished his coffee, more tears falling as he did. Once they were all finished, they left, beginning to walk back. They were halfway back when Haise realized he was being talked to.

"Sassan!" Shirazu yelled. "What're you spacing out for?"

"I'm sorry," Haise said. "Just have a lot on my mind. What were you saying?"

"I said, what's the plan for tomorrow?" Shirazu asked.

"Oh, we're meeting with Suzuya's squad, so we'll be leaving the house by seven thirty," Haise said.

"Okay," Shirazu nodded.

Haise continued walking, the woman's face filling his mind again. She had been smiling. Even as he cried, she had smiled. But it wasn't a happy smile, more like she wanted to cry. Before he knew it, they were at the chateau. Haise went to his room and lay down, closing his eyes to try to sleep, only to again see the inside of that coffee shop, the girl standing in front of him, the coffee in his hands. He smiled. If this was where his mind wanted him to stay for the night, he would accept it. He took a sip of the coffee, smiling as tears ran down his face once more.

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	26. Chapter 26

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Unusual Methods

Haise stared at the mirror. The girl's face swam through his mind almost constantly. It had been constantly ever since he had visited the coffee shop. He wasn't going to be able to focus on the meeting with Suzuya's squad later. He wouldn't be able to focus on anything. He sighed, walking out of the bathroom and through he hallway toward the meeting room. He was almost late already, having excused himself to try uselessly to clear his mind. As he stepped into the room, he saw that Shirazu and Saiko, who had been ordered to work with them, were both absent, but so was Suzuya himself. He took two steps into the room before the door opened again.

"Sorry I'm late everybody!" Suzuya almost sang.

Haise turned, holding his arms out to the sides knowingly and forcing a convincing smile. Instantly, Suzuya shot forward, hands diving into his pockets and quickly stealing half a dozen snacks he had placed in them specifically for him. Once his prizes had been taken, Suzuya smiled up at Haise.

"You always come through for me," Suzuya smiled before his smile faltered a little. "Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing," Haise smiled. "I've just...got something on my mind."

Suzuya smiled. "Okay!"

He went to his seat, sitting down and depositing his haul on the table, ripping one of the packages open as the door burst open and Shirazu sprinted in, gasping for breath and with Saiko on his back.

"I'm sorry we're late!" Shirazu said. "It won't happen again!"

"You actually brought her?" Haise asked. "Impressive. Don't worry about being late, I know she can be a handful."

They all took their seats and sat down, Haise lifting the papers in front of himself as Hanbee Abara, Suzuya's right hand, began to speak. However, Haise's mind once again drifted back to that coffee shop. He barely heard a word Hanbee said. Something about Nutcracker being a human trafficker for ghouls, and about an auction. Lastly, he heard something about the SS-rated ghoul Big Madam being involved. Finally, the meeting was over and they all left, Haise remaining silent.

"Excuse me, Sasaki?" Urie spoke up as they reached the main entrance.

"Hm?" Haise asked.

"My check up?" Urie said.

"Oh, right," Haise nodded. "Best of luck to you."

Urie nodded and walked away, Haise turning and continuing to walk.

"Are you alright Sassan?" Shirazu asked. "You've been spacing out pretty hard today."

"Yeah," Haise said. "I'm fine."

"Right," Shirazu said, rolling his eyes. "Look, if it's really eating at you that much, just go ask that chick out."

"It's not like that," Haise said. "I just...could swear I knew her."

Shirazu sighed, shaking his head. "Well, anyway. I'm going to head home."

"Me too," Mutsuki said. "Are you coming?"

"No," Haise said. "There's something I have to do first. I'll see you at home."

Both nodded and they separated outside, Haise taking a cab to Cochlea. Once there, he headed down to Donato's cell again, sitting down.

"So, I hear Torso got away," Donato said.

"Yes, but your information helped immensely," Haise said. "Thank you for that. What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Well Haise, I wanted to ask you what you think about your memories, or lack thereof," Donato said. "I can tell you are being tormented by conflicting emotions. One minute you think you don't miss your memories, and the next you can't help but wonder who you truly are. Let me ask you something. What would you do if there was a way to get them back? Would you choose to regain your memories?"

"What brought this on?" Haise asked. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Why now?" Donato asked. "For one thing, I can see that something like a ghost from your past has been bothering you lately. It's in your eyes. The way your gaze is distant, and there's a touch of emptiness in them. Aside from that, there's another ghoul who has a personal interest."

"Another ghoul?" Haise asked.

"If you decide you want to regain your memories, he holds one of the keys that will help you do so," Donato said. "And that ghoul's name is-"

"It's alright," Haise said, holding up a hand. "I already know how to bring my own memories back. I just haven't done it. I don't know if I want to yet."

Donato smiled and nodded. "Very well. In that case, I'm afraid that's all the information I can give you for now."

"Alright," Haise nodded.

He left the prison, riding a cab home in silence, the girl once again dominating his thoughts, tears leaking from his eyes this time. As he got home, he gathered the others in the living room, minus Urie, who was still at his checkup. Then, he told them his plan for the mission. Dress like women.

* * *

Haise laughed into his hand as Shirazu complained about having to dance at the club, his deep, gruff voice not fitting his outfit or makeup at all, though he wasn't exactly a very attractive woman anyway. Mutsuki actually looked perfect as a female, and according to him and Saiko, Haise himself had done rather well also. Haise scolded Shirazu. Nutcracker's ingredients list had been young females. The best way to catch her was to go undercover as young women. At the same time as he pointed this out to Shirazu, he spotted Nutcracker, pointing her out to the others. They all spread out to try and draw her attention in their own ways, but within minutes, Haise was able to tell it wouldn't work. Saiko was too focused on dancing to think about the mission, anyone, male or female, that Shirazu tried to talk to was scared away, for obvious reasons, and Haise himself was having trouble doing much beyond seeing the girl from the coffee shop in his mind. Again. Donato's question about regaining his memories echoed through his mind, the girl's face seeming to smile more and more the longer he considered the possibility of trying to remember who he was.

After what seemed like no time at all, Shirazu nudged him, breaking him out of his stupor. He looked around just as Mutsuki, who had been talking to Nutcracker, ran over excitedly, saluting.

"Believe it or not, the Nutcracker just offered me a job," Mutsuki said. "Thanks to me our undercover investigation is go!"

"Awesome way to go Tooru!" Shirazu exclaimed.

"Oh man! I'm feeling so good right now! I'm going to go do a victory dance!" Mutsuki ran off, Saiko and Shirazu following, all three beginning to dance near the center of the dance floor, Haise making his way toward the exit. After another while of waiting, the three of them left the club, finding him waiting and they all headed home.

* * *

"When is this auction being held?" Matsuri Washuu, brains of S2, asked.

"The eleventh of November, sir," Haise said.

"Then let's have Investigator Mutsuki go in on his own," Matsuri said.

"You want him to infiltrate it alone?" Haise asked.

"You got a problem with that?" Matsuri asked. "We can't risk taking Quinques in because they might attract attention. Therefore it's the perfect job for the Quinx."

"But sir, Mutsuki's never been on-"

"That's enough!" Matsuri snapped. "I don't want your excuses. I've given you an order."

"Excuse me," Suzuya said, raising a hand. "I've got a question. Do you think that maybe I could infiltrate the auction too?"

"You sure you want to do that?" Haise asked.

"If we're going to go in there and stir things up it would be better to have at least one more person on the inside," Suzuya said.

Matsuri stared at him for several minutes before sighing. "Very well."

"I promise you won't regret it, Sir," Suzuya said before winking at Haise.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door, Akira, Shimoguchi, and Hiruko all walking in.

"For this investigation, S2 and the Suzuya Squad will be working with Investigators Hiruko, Mado, and Shimoguchi, each of whom will be heading up their own squadron," Matsuri said. "Now allow me to brief you about the auction search and destroy operation."

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	27. Chapter 27

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Auction Raid

Haise sat down at the table and sipped at his coffee, ignoring the fact that he could feel his eyes watering. Eventually, he needed to figure out why the coffee shop made him cry. After a few moments of silence, the girl that had been plaguing his every waking and sleeping moment sat across from him, giving him a concerned look.

"Is everything alright?" she asked. "You're always crying when you're in here."

"I honestly wish I could say I knew _why_ i'm always crying," Haise said. "I don't. I'm not sad. I love this coffee shop. The coffee's delicious. The atmosphere here is cheerful. For some reason, it just makes me start crying."

"I see," she nodded. "Well, if you need anything, let us know."

"Sure," Haise nodded as she stood. "By the way. Something's come up at work, and there's a chance I might not be able to come back for a while. In case you don't hear from me, I just wanted to say that this is the best coffee I've ever tasted, and that I think you're really pretty."

She stared at him, eyes wide, before smiling and nodding. "Thank you. Good luck with work. Don't do anything too hard. There's always a better way."

Haise smiled and nodded, finishing his coffee and paying, then leaving and heading home. He smiled ruefully to himself. He had meant to ask her name before the auction. Too late now, he supposed. He reached the meeting place where the troop transport he and the Quinx would be riding in was located. They all piled in, Haise pulling his jacket off and pulling on a kagune resistant breastplate before pulling the jacket back on. Once he had, he opened his briefcase, readying his quinque and setting the tip of the blade between his feet, resting his hands on the end of the pommel.

"So, did you go see your coffee shop girl?" Shirazu asked.

"Get focused, Shirazu," Haise said. "Mutsuki's counting on us."

"Sorry," Shirazu said.

"Remember the training we've been doing, too," Haise said. "This operation will have a lot of very powerful ghouls here. Above all else, protect one another and be careful."

"We will," Shirazu said. "You'll be there with us, though, right Sassan?"

"Hopefully," Haise nodded. "But there's a chance we'll meet someone too strong for you. If we do, I'll have to deal with them alone, and we'll be separated."

Shirazu nodded. Haise looked to Saiko.

"Saiko, I know you don't get motivated often, and you never wanted to be a Quinx, but we'll need your help with this," Haise said. "Can I count on you to watch Shirazu, Mutsuki, and Urie's backs for me?"

"Yes sir, Maman sir!" Saiko said, saluting.

Haise nodded as the truck slowed to a stop and they all piled out, dozens of ghoul investigators surrounding the building, then waiting.

"And now we wait for the signal," Shirazu said, looking to Haise and seeing he had spaced out again. "Hey, Sassan, you need to focus yourself."

"Right," Haise nodded, smiling slightly. "Sorry. I'm good."

Shirazu nodded and they looked back at the building. Finally, the signal came. Just as Haise and the Quinx moved toward their selected entry point, a report came in that the front of the building was a battleground against Naki and the white-suits of Aogiri. Haise tried to ignore it. He hated ignoring other battles when he knew people were going to die. He wanted to just do it all himself, even though he knew it would get him killed.

Haise kicked the door in, the group sprinting inside and through the hallways quickly. Suddenly, ghouls wearing red aogiri cloaks began to sprint into the hallway with their kagune extended. Haise ducked under a stab from a tail, splitting the owner up the front. He stepped off of the ghoul's corpse, blocking a blade as another ghoul slashed at him, only for Urie to take that ghoul down. Haise landed on his feet in a group of three ghouls and spun, slashing all three before they could react, then darted forward, ducking under a Rinkaku and decapitating the ghoul. A group of investigators that had followed watched the Quinx as they rapidly mowed down any and all Aogiri troops in their path, using the path they cut to follow. However, as they reached a more open area, a bald ghoul with a massive blade-like kagune on each arm, forming mostly over his hands and forearms landed off to the side, driving it into an investigator and smashing him into the wall. Haise spun toward him in time to block several strikes before flipping over him, allowing him to punch the wall. Haise jumped back, landing beside Urie and Shirazu as Saiko caught up, having fallen way behind.

"Keep advancing Sasaki," Associate Special Class Investigator Ato said off to the side.

"But sir," Haise said.

"Go on, we'll handle it," he said.

"If you say so," Haise said. "Come on guys, let's go."

He turned, running down a side hallway, the others following. More Aogiri members moved to stop them, but Haise, Shirazu, and Urie quickly carved a path through them, Saiko struggling to keep up. Finally, they got clear of the Aogiri troops, seeming to have reached a less populated area. They kept running until suddenly, Haise heard a sound like something metal being hit, hard. He skidded around the next corner toward the sound, seeing Mutsuki up ahead, facing down a hallway that the one he was in fed into from the side. He sped up as he saw Mutsuki's face fill with fear. Then, as he arrived, four jagged tentacles shot toward Mutsuki, only for Haise to slash them, stopping between Mutsuki and the ghoul, one who wore a pair of maroon pants and a pale shirt with purplish red hair neatly parted with the bangs hanging mostly to the right with a few to the left.

"Sorry I'm late," Haise smiled."

"Teach!" Mutsuki smiled, calling him by a nickname she had given him once he started to train them to fight every day leading up to the auction.

Shirazu fired his kagune at the ghoul, only for the ghoul to dodge it. Before the ghoul could react, though, Urie's knee slammed into her gut, throwing him.

"Nice one Urie!" Shirazu shouted.

Urie slashed at the ghoul, but two of the ghoul's tentacles blocked the blade, forcing Urie to jump back.

"Rinkaku type," Urie said.

"Yeah," Haise said, stepping forward as the ghoul sniffed.

"You're...Haise Sasaki, aren't you?" the ghoul asked, voice distinctly feminine.

"I am," Haise nodded.

The ghoul glared at him angrily for several seconds before screaming in rage. "It's all your fault!"

She sent out her tentacles and Haise knocked two aside, sidestepping the other two, Mutsuki diving out of the way, and Urie and Shirazu both charged, slashing at the ghoul only for her to avoid their slashes, kicking Shirazu away, then catching Urie's arm and hurling him. Haise charged, slashing at the ghoul from above, and the ghoul blocked the blade with her tentacles. However, the moment she did, Kaneki kicked her in the gut, throwing her backward, Urie and Shirazu both sprinting past without a word, splitting the ghoul's front open. As she crashed to the ground, jagged, dark green, root-like tentacles shot over, catching her and pulling her away from them to where another ghoul was standing. This one was female as well, though more obviously so than the first who Haise was mostly guessing at. The newcomer had on a black suit with a pair of loose pants and shiny shoes, all of it immaculate, a fancy half-mask like one might expect to see at a masquerade ball, and shoulder length black hair with her bangs tucked behind her left ear.

Urie charged, slashing, only for more root-like kagune to explode out of the ground, ceiling, and walls, forming a wall that Urie's Quinque bounced off of. Haise walked over, resting a hand on it and cocking his head slightly.

"So ghouls can detach their kagune," Haise mused. "Shirazu, Urie, see if you can get through it."

Both nodded, Haise getting out of the way and calling Matsuri Washuu, reporting that they had reached Mutsuki, but that their path was blocked by a kagune wall.

"Oshiba Squad was annihilated," Matsuri informed him. "The only ghoul they met was Nutcracker, so her rating has been elevated to S. Your squad is to head to the administrative building and secure it. Eliminate Nutcracker."

"Sir, if we're going to be facing an S rated ghoul, it'll be a difficult fight," Haise said. "Most of my subordinates will be fine, but Investigator Mutsuki is both wounded and exhausted. I'd like permission to have him retreat."

"Granted," Matsuri said. "Have someone escort him out, I recommend Investigator Urie."

"Urie?" Haise asked.

"He's skilled enough to protect Investigator Mutsuki if any ghouls find them," Matsuri reasoned.

"Understood," Haise said. "Thank you sir."

He turned, walking back to the others, seeing that they had failed to make any progress through the kagune wall. "New orders."

"What's up?" Shirazu asked.

"We're going to secure the Administrative building," Haise said. "We'll be facing Nutcracker, who's been elevated to S rank for wiping out Oshiba Squad."

"Alone?" Shirazu gaped. "What the hell?"

"Then let's get going," Urie said.

"Hold on," Haise said. "Urie, I need you to escort Mutsuki out. She too tired to fight an S-rank ghoul, and you're the only one I trust to be able to handle any ghouls you meet without trouble. I understand that you want to earn some achievements, but you're the only one that can get Mutsuki out safely. Please, I need you to do this."

Urie stared at him for several moments before sighing and nodding. "Okay," Urie said. "May I return after I've gotten Mutsuki out?"

"Yes," Haise nodded. "Try to meet back up with us at the administrative building. If we leave there, I'll give you an update."

Urie nodded and he and Mutsuki left, Haise turning and running down a side hallway with Shirazu and Saiko. They would have to head outside to reach the administrative building. They reached the exit easily, running toward the administrative building as quickly as they could while conserving energy to deal with an S-rated ghoul. Just as they were working their way around the admin building toward the door, they stopped as they found an Investigator sitting under a tree.

"You're with Oshiba Squad, right?" Haise asked, kneeling down.

The investigator nodded. "I'm Hayashimura."

"What happened?" Shirazu asked.

"Nutcracker has two types of kagune," the investigator said. "Bikaku and Koukaku. I was lucky enough to just get a few stracthes from this tree. The others...She also can detach her kagune to form traps."

"Alright," Haise nodded. "We'll have to be-"

He spun, holding up his quinque and blocking a flying kick from a ghoul with snow white hair, one red eye instead of two, a black cloak, and a black and white striped body suit peeking out from under it. The kick had a massive amount of force though, slamming the back of the quinque's blade into Haise's shoulder hard enough to cut him, a little of his blood landing on the ghoul's cheek. Then, Haise was thrown away, landing hard and losing his quinque. He pushed himself up to his hands and knees as the ghoul cackled sadistically, talking about how good Haise's blood tasted.

"Sassan!" Shirazu shouted.

"Stay back!" Haise shouted, sitting up to watch the obviously powerful ghoul.

Then, the ghoul charged at Haise. Without looking up, Haise extended two of his tentacles, impaling the ghoul through the abdomen. However, the ghoul laughed psychotically, ignoring the injuries.

"That's not enough to stop me!" he laughed, holding his right hand over to his left side, a massive blade bursting out of his shoulder. "I'm already used to it!"

The blade slashed the tentacles, freeing him before he slammed a kick into Haise, throwing him backward. Haise flipped, bouncing once before landing on his feet. Then, spikes burst out of the ghoul's shoulders along the back, the right side firing black shards at Haise as the ghoul jumped, Haise barely avoiding them.

"Shirazu, you and Hayashimura need to run!" Haise shouted as he avoided the shards.

"But-"

"Go!" Haise shouted, leaping over a slash from the ghoul, striking with his tentacles, only for the ghoul to block it and slash back, Haise once again avoiding it.

As he landed on his feet, the ghoul slashed again, Haise blocking it this time, his tentacles exploding into paste but only after blocking the blade. Haise formed two more, focusing harder and blocking a slash from above from the ghoul, barely holding it back but his tentacles withstanding it this time. After a moment, Haise leapt back, allowing the blade to crash to the ground.

"Damn this guy's strong," Haise growled, wiping some sweat from his brow.

"Investigator Sasaki," Matsuri said.

"Yes sir," Haise answered, watching the ghoul carefully as he simply stood there, watching Haise.

"The preliminary rate of this ghoul will be SS," Matsuri said. "You'll fight alone. Investigator Hayashimura will accompany the rest of Sasaki Squad to the Administrative building."

"What the hell?" Shirazu's voice shouted. "Are you telling us to abandon Sassan?"

"Shirazu," Haise cut in. "It's fine. You and Hayashimura need to get to the Administrative building quickly. And Shirazu...take care of Saiko."

He lowered his hand, readying his tentacles again as the ghoul grinned widely.

"Well, aren't you a model superior?" the ghoul asked. "I can appreciate that. My boss was a great guy, too. Let's talk about our secrets. Just the two of us!"

He shot forward, the blade reforming itself, and Haise met his charge, flipping over the blade and striking with his tentacles, only for the ghoul to flip out of the way. Haise spun, slamming his tentacles into the blade as it slashed at him, but still flew backward, crashing to the ground. Then, almost as soon as he had landed, the ghoul crashed down on him, slamming several punches into him before grabbing him by the throat and taking off at a sprint, dragging him along the ground, tearing a trench into it as they went. Haise struggled to stay conscious as he was plowed through the ground, but when he hit something much harder than the packed dirt he had been going through, he slipped, darkness taking him.

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	28. Chapter 28

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Return

Haise opened his eyes, staring up at the other version of him, who sat chained into a chair, staring down at him.

"Don't you care about seeing her again?" the other him asked. "I can get you out of here. I can get you back to her. Just acknowledge me. Just say my name."

"No," Haise said, sitting up. "I'll get back there my self."

Just as he did, the sound of footsteps reached his ears, drawing him back to reality. Just as he awoke, he crashed down through the roof of one of the buildings, shouting in agony as he felt several bones break, then crashed down on the stage, unable to move. The ghoul he had been fighting landed beside him, glaring down at him.

"There's a huge gap between the first and the second," the ghoul said, turning and walking away as Haise struggled to move anything. "First place, and the first place loser. Hell, second place is only a consolation prize to distract the person in it from the fact that they're still a loser. The difference between first and second is incalculable. The difference between a perfect one hundred mark and a ninety nine is far more than just one point." the ghoul turned back to Haise, glaring at him. "I was never able to beat that bitch. I was always king of the losers. But now, I can finally prove myself." He grinned wickedly as Haise finally managed to get back on his feet, barely staying there. "You were that doctor's vision. His dream. You were everything he wanted his experiments to be. You were the thing to be copied, to be strived for, but that could never be replicated, let alone exceeded. You were his precious so-called trueborn. But now, the doctor's made me. I can finally prove what a pathetic waste of DNA you are! I can finally prove that I'm not king of the losers anymore!"

Haise staggered forward a single step before his legs gave out and he collapsed back to the ground.

"You know, this stage gives me an idea," the ghoul grinned. "Why don't we put on a play? You'll need lines, nothing hard, of course, since it's short notice. How about...I've got it! First, 'I don't want to die!' and then, 'You've changed my mind!'"

He shot forward, slamming his fists down on Haise's back, shattering his spine, Haise screaming in agony. Then, he began to beat Haise into a bloody mess, Haise screaming as each blow broke a bone. After several minutes, the beatings stopped for a moment, Haise forcing his eyes open and seeing the ghoul falling toward him. He sent out his tentacles, impaling the ghoul only for him to rest an elbow on one, his chin on his hand, tapping a finger on the other hand against the other tentacle.

"I was compared to you?" the ghoul said. "But you're so weak. What a joke."

He formed his blade, slashing the tentacles and fell, impaling Haise through the chest, Haise screaming again. Except that his scream was louder than it should be. The ghoul ripped the blade out, beginning to beat Haise into a bloody mess again, once again launching him around and around the massive room as he did.

"This is awesome!" the ghoul cackled. "Who did this awesome thing for me? Thanks whoever you are!"

He turned back to Haise, picking him up by the head and stabbing him. Haise screamed again. Then there was another stab. Then more beatings. It vaguely occurred to him that his screams weren't as loud now, but he was barely alive enough to realize that he even _was_ screaming at all anymore. Finally, the beatings stopped and Haise felt his consciousness beginning to slip. He could hear the ghoul talking to him, but he couldn't understand.

Suddenly, he felt a pair of arms holding him, and could hear someone fighting. He smelled something. It smelled sweet. Like flowers. And then, there was a voice.

"I won't let you hurt Big Brother!"

Haise opened his eyes, staring at a window in the wall of the usual room, watching as a young girl with fore vertebrae-like tentacles fended off the ghoul that had been tearing him apart. She was strong. And she was familiar.

"Save her!" the other him screamed from behind him, sounding desperate and terrified. "Please! I'm begging you! You have to save her! PROTECT HINAMI! ! !"

"No," Haise said, turning and walking over to him, extending his tentacles and cutting him free of his chair, the other him stepping away from is at Haise sat down in it, crossing one leg over the other and resting his elbow on the arm of the chair, his fist against his cheek. "You do it, Kaneki."

Kaneki's eyes widened just before white-hot agony exploded behind his eyes, Kaneki and Haise both clutching at their heads, screaming. As the pain began to intensify, Kaneki opened his eyes, seeing he was in the real world, still clutching his head and screaming, the girl watching him from where she was on her hands and knees, the other ghoul too busy slamming his head against the wall, a kakuja mask in front of his face. Finally, the pain reached an unbearable crescendo, memories flooding into Kaneki's head. Eighteen years as Kaneki, two years as prisoner 240 from Cochlea, and two years as Haise Sasaki. Finally, the memories settled, the pain fading and allowing Kaneki to stand.

"Big Brother?" Hinami asked worriedly.

Kaneki grinned, cracking his knuckle, feeling it break and mend itself, not feeling even a hint of pain from it. He turned to the ghoul he had been fighting before as the ghoul turned to him, growling angrily. The ghoul shot forward forming his blade and slashing at Kaneki, only for his blade to crash into Kaneki's crystalized wing, which was wrapped around his arm like a koukaku. The ghoul's eyes widened, staring at it, and Kaneki lunged, biting a huge chunk out of the side of the ghoul's neck, forcing him to leap back, the wound sealing itself. Then, the moment he landed, Kaneki's tentacles exploded out of the ground, impaling him in several places. Kaneki ripped his tentacles back, breaking them free of the ground as he fired a barrage of crystal shards, blasting the ghoul into the wall. The ghoul dropped to the ground and shot forward, blade extended again. However, as he slashed at Kaneki, all four of Kaneki's tentacles crashed into the blade from below, snapping it off before flipping and impaling the ghoul, pinning him to the ground. Kaneki walked over, ripping massive chunks of the ghoul's Ukaku off and eating them quickly. Then, he hurled the ghoul away, the ghoul crashing into the wall and beginning to push himself up as Kaneki ate the blade he had broken off as well.

"Thanks for the pick-me-up," Kaneki said. "That should actually help a lot. I've been noticing that my Ukaku was a little underpowered."

He fired another barrage at the ghoul, the crystals a couple shades darker blue now, and they blasted through the ghoul, blood spraying out of the ghoul's mouth. Then, Kaneki retracted the wing completely, launching himself forward with his tentacles then curling them around his arm before extending them as a single blade. As he reached the ghoul, the ghoul stabbed at him with his own reformed blade, only for Kaneki to smash through it, stabbing him through the chest. The ghoul coughed, blood splattering across the ground and Kaneki retracted the tentacles, letting the ghoul collapse. Then, he turned, seeing Saiko standing there, watching him.

"Maman?" Saiko asked nervously.

Kaneki felt Haise and Kaneki's memories begin to fight but fought them all back under control, quickly sorting through them all, standing still as a statue and silent for several seconds as he did. When he returned to the would, Saiko was directly in front of him, staring up at him.

"Maman?" Saiko asked again.

"Don't worry Saiko," Kaneki smiled. "I'm alright."

She smiled in relief and Kaneki turned back to Hinami as Arima's squad ran into the room, surrounding her. Arima himself walked in, only for Kaneki to call out to him.

"Arima, wait," Kaneki said. "She's a noncombatant, and she's got a lot of extremely valuable information on Aogiri. I would like to take her into custody, if you would allow it."

Arima stared at him before nodding. He motioned for his squad to leave and they turned, hurrying out of the room. Arima stared at Haise for a few moments longer before following them. Kaneki sighed, turning back to Saiko.

"Hey, do you know where my quinque ended up?" Kaneki asked.

Saiko nodded vigorously and ran to the door, picking up his quinque from beside it and jogging back over. "Saiko was bringing it so that you could use it to fight the ghoul, but you didn't need it."

"Thank you Saiko," Kaneki smiled. "Come on. I want to introduce you to her. SHe's a ghoul, but she's actually a really sweet girl. And, as a secret between you and me, she saved my life from that ghoul."

He walked down to Hinami who watched Saiko carefully. After a moment, Saiko bowed.

"Thank you for saving Maman," Saiko said.

"You're welcome," Hinami smiled. "So, now what?"

"Now I detain you, and we find a way out that doesn't involve anymore of him, hopefully," Kaneki glanced back, but his eyes widened as he realized that the ghoul was gone. "No fucking way! How?"

"Takizawa's really strong," Hinami said. "He's a half ghoul that Dr. Kanou made using the Mana...I mean, Owl's kakuho. He's one of only two that survived the procedure."

"Takizawa?" Kaneki asked. "I think I've heard that name. Anyway, we should get going. Turn around and I'll put the handcuffs on you."

Hinami nodded, turning away from him and he placed a pair of quinque steel cuffs on her wrists. Then, he and Saiko led her out to the CCG, placing her in the prisoner transport that the CCG had brought with them. As they were walking her out, Kaneki explained that she was a high-value informant about Aogiri to Matsuri Washuu, who congratulated him on his victory and on successfully capturing her. Once she was locked up, Kaneki sat against the side of the vehicle, sighing in relief and waiting for the last of the Investigators to leave the building.

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	29. Chapter 29

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Busted

Kaneki stared at the picture in silence. It had been about a week since the auction raid, and he hadn't left his room since. Six of those days had been spent trying to piece his memories together, combining them into being a single entity, while also struggling to keep them separated enough to know which memories were formed during his time as which person. It seemed an impossible task at first, and he wound up having to write it down and study it like he was in school. Eventually, though, the memories had finally settled into their places. Something else that had caught him off guard after the raid, and the thing that he realized had made Arima stare at him, which he was glad _wasn't_ Arima figuring out he remembered, was that when he had remembered his time with Yamori, his hair had bleached white again, the effects of the Rc suppressor that the CCG fed him having worn off. The black had started to return as he continued to eat the Rc suppressor stew that the CCG gave him in place of human food, but it was less pronounced now, and he also planned to meet up with an old friend to see if he couldn't counter it without anyone noticing.

His mind drifted back to the present, and to the picture in his hand. Rank Two Investigator Seidou Takizawa. Former partner of Kousuke Houji. Former Academy classmate of Akira Mado. Akira had graduated with a perfect score from the academy. Takizawa had been second in his class with a ninety nine, and had developed an inferiority complex as he saw all of the praise Akira had received for a perfect score, while he, with his near-perfect score, also a rarely-heard-of feat, was ignored completely. Kaneki understood Takizawa's speech about the distance between first and second place now. He actually felt bad for Takizawa. By all reports, Takizawa had been a great person, and had had a lot of potential. But then, during the Owl Suppression Operation in the Twentieth Ward, he had gone to find Amon, who he believed, correctly, to have been injured fighting Kaneki. Both had later been reported missing and labeled as officially dead. Of course, now that Kaneki had read over the details of the Owl Suppression Operation, he knew exactly what had happened. Amon and Takizawa had both been captured by Aogiri, as was Yoshimura's body. Then, Yoshimura's Kakuho had been used to turn Takizawa into an Owl half-ghoul. He was extremely dangerous now.

Kaneki sighed, setting the picture down. Akira had met Takizawa as he fled the auction. She knew he was alive, and what he was. But Amon...Kaneki had no reason to think that Amon might still be alive, just like he knew, without even considering asking, that deep down, Akira was praying Amon was alive as well. Kaneki sighed. It was his fault Amon had been captured. If he hadn't taken Amon's arm off, Amon could have fought whoever captured him, probably.

A knock sounded at the door and Kaneki turned toward it.

"Come in."

The door opened and Akira stepped into the room. Kaneki straitened up, smiling and Akira closed the door, leaning against it.

"How much do you remember?" Akira asked.

"I don't-"

"Don't lie to me Haise!" Akira snapped. "I can see in your eyes that you remember at least a little, and I know the reason you've been cooped up in here all week is because you're trying to adjust to the memories. How much do you remember?"

"Not much," Kaneki lied. "I remember being the eyepatch ghoul. I remember fighting Amon during the Owl Suppression Operation, and I remember defeating him."

"Did you kill him?" Akira asked.

"No," Kaneki said. "I took his right arm off during the fight, but I put a tourniquet on his arm to stop him from bleeding out. I can't remember exactly why I was fighting him, or why I tried to keep him alive, but I know that I didn't kill him. I also never met former Investigator Takizawa."

"You know about Takizawa?" Akira asked, Kaneki holding up the file.

"I saw his face in a picture while I was reading about Amon, to see if it would help me remember more about my past, which it didn't, by the way, so I found out who Takizawa was, since he's the ghoul that I fought at the auction," Kaneki explained.

Akira nodded slowly. "Okay. Thank you for being honest with me Kaneki."

Kaneki stared at her, his eyes widening slowly. "Kaneki? Who's that? I'm Haise. Was Kaneki my name before?"

"Yes," Akira sighed. "Sorry. I had to check. Anyway, Haise, if you remember anything else, let me know. Okay?"

Kaneki nodded and Akira turned, leaving the room. Kaneki waited until he was sure she was gone before sighing and resting his head on the desk. He hated lying to her. As Haise, she was like a mother to him, and she still was. But if she knew that he remembered everything, he'd probably be locked up, or treated as a ghoul and exterminated. Finally he picked his head up, looking to the door as Saiko walked in.

"Are you...are you really still Maman?" Saiko asked.

"Yes, I am," Kaneki smiled. "Is everything okay?"

"If you remembered everything, would you still be Maman?" Saiko asked.

"I...I don't know," Kaneki said. "But even if I did remember, I'd still be here for you. I'd still be your mentor."

Saiko smiled and nodded, hugging him. "You should get out of the room tomorrow. Everyone's worried."

"Alright," Kaneki smiled. "I will. How about we go and see a movie tomorrow?"

Saiko nodded, smiling. "I'm going to go to bed now. Goodnight Maman."

"Goodnight Saiko," Kaneki smiled.

She left the room and Kaneki's smile fell a little before he changed into bed clothes and went to sleep. The next day, Kaneki left his room early, cooking everyone breakfast. They all gathered around, drawn by the smell, even Urie. Kaneki smiled as he set the food on the table.

"So, I was thinking, how about we all go out to lunch and a movie today?" Kaneki asked. "We can celebrate everyone doing good work."

"Wait, aren't you angry with me for not taking Mutsuki out of the building like I promised?" Urie asked.

"Well, normally I would be, but in the end, Mutsuki learned to use his kagune, and you helped Suzuya defeat Big Madam," Kaneki said. "So let's just say it evened out."

Urie nodded and began to eat. Kaneki watched silently as they did. Once they were finished, he cleaned up after them then began to prepare for their trip into town.

* * *

Kaneki checked his watch. It was getting late. There was still time, but he'd have to go now.

"Hey guys, I'm sorry to bail but there's...someone I really wanna go see," Kaneki said.

"Tell your coffee shop girl we said hi," Shirazu said, raising a hand as the others all kept walking.

Kaneki shook his head, smiling, then turned, heading to the coffee shop and walking in, carefully keeping his face the same slightly melancholic blank expression he had worn as Haise whenever he was there. Touka walked out, smiling as she saw Kaneki.

"Well look at you," Touka smiled. "It's been a little while. It's good to see you. What happened to your hair?"

"Just trying something new," Kaneki said. "Can I get a cup of coffee?"

Touka nodded, walking into the back to make one and walking it out, setting it down and smiling. Kaneki had to forcibly restrain himself from smiling as he smelled the coffee. He took a sip and couldn't help the smile.

"So you really _can_ smile," Touka smiled.

Kaneki smiled even wider before sighing heavily

"Is everything okay?" Touka asked. "That was a pretty heavy sigh."

"Yeah," Kaneki said. "It's just...you've gotten better at making coffee, Touka."

She and Yomo both stared at him as he stood, smiling widely. Then, Touka threw her arms around him, sobbing into his chest as he held her, smiling and nodding to Yomo, who also smiled and nodded back. After several moments, Touka pulled back, reaching up and kissing Kaneki, Kaneki kissing her back instantly. After several minutes, they pulled back to breath and Kaneki rested his forehead against hers, smiling just as the bell chimed. They both turned, Kaneki afraid one of the Quinx had followed him, but he smiled broadly as he saw Shiro and Kuro standing in the door, staring at him. Both shifted their eyes to red, their tentacles extending, but they smiled when Kaneki did the same.

"You two look like you've grown stronger," Kaneki smiled. "What've you been up to?"

"We've been gathering meat for Touka and Yomo to give to ghouls in need," Kuro said.

"The same way Anteiku used to do," Shiro added. "And Yomo's been training us."

"So that we could be strong enough to defend this place if the CCG comes calling again," Kuro said.

"Like they did with Anteiku," Shiro said.

"Yeah," Kaneki said. "I don't think there was anything any of us could have done for Anteiku. I saved Irimi and Koma, but then Arima just killed them anyway."

"Oh, that's right," Touka said. "You never knew. Both of them survived."

"They did?" Kaneki blinked.

"That's right," Touka nodded. "They were very badly wounded, but once Arima left with you, what we thought was just your corpse, they were able to escape."

Kaneki nodded, smiling. "That's a relief. I thought I got them killed anyway. I'm glad I was able to save someone after all."

Touka nodded, motioning to Kuro, who flipped the sign to closed. Touka led them all to the back, Kaneki realizing the shop, minus the front, was set up a lot like Anteiku. He wondered if there was a training area underneath.

"So, where is everyone?" Kaneki asked. "How are they all doing?"

"Well, Irimi and Koma are in hiding," Touka said. "They help Kuro and Shiro collect meat, but for the most part they try to stay hidden. I heard they're also rebuilding their gangs in case we need them to defend the shop. Nishiki on the other hand, became a ghoul known as serpent. He's gotten a lot stronger. He can actually use his kagune now."

"I know," Kaneki smiled. "I fought him as Haise. He nearly beat me, then after I won, he sent me out of control by almost making me remember who I really am."

"He's been hunting ghouls that he thinks are dangerous to anyone he cares about," Touka said. "Like Torso. He was worried Torso would find Kimi, since he was attracted to women with scars, and she has one on her shoulder."

"She does?" Kaneki asked.

"Yeah," Touka said. "Nishiki said that before he came to Anteiku, and just after the incident with Tsukiyama, he was too weak to hunt. So Kimi let him take a bite out of her shoulder to save him."

"I see," Kaneki smiled. "And to think he was going to leave her after Anteiku."

"Well, it's a bit...complicated now," Touka said.

"How so?" Kaneki asked.

"She's working for Kanou," Touka said. "She wants to be able to help ghouls by becoming a doctor who knows about them, for that, she needed Kanou."

"So she dumped him to go join Aogiri?" Kaneki asked.

"No," Touka said. "They're still together, I think. Or they're on a break? Like I said, it's complicated. They still want to be together, but he can't get near her without fighting his way through Aogiri first."

Kaneki nodded. "What about Banjou?"

"He's back to running the Eleventh Ward," Touka said. "Apparently he was welcomed back happily, after Aogiri left."

Kaneki smiled nodding. "And Tsukiyama?"

Touka fell silent, looking to Yomo.

"He's broken," Yomo said. "After your apparent death, he simply lost the will to live."

"Why?" Kaneki asked.

"He blamed himself," Yomo said. "He felt like he should have kept fighting you until he died in order to stop you that time. So when you were reported as killed, he couldn't handle the guilt, or living without you around. The Tsukiyama family has been trying to find something to bring him back to his senses, but he just keeps getting worse."

"I see," Kaneki nodded. "Do you guys know where he lives?"

"I do," Touka said. "Why?"

"Can you give him a package for me?" Kaneki asked.

"Is it a chunk of your skin?" Touka asked.

"Yeah," Kaneki smiled sheepishly.

"I don't want him eating my boyfriend," Touka said.

"It's not about him eating me," Kaneki said. "It's to let him know I'm alive. I need his help. The CCG knows who I am, though they think I still can't remember who I am. To keep Haise Sasaki under control, and to keep him weak enough to be dealt with, they lace all the food they give me with Rc suppressants. That's why my hair is slowly turning black. I need Tsukiyama to be able to negate the suppressant without anyone knowing."

"I see," Touka nodded. "So the skin's really just to make him snap out of his rut."

"Yes," Kaneki nodded, glancing at his watch. "I gotta get home. If I'm out too late, they'll figure out I remembered."

"And what happens then?" Touka asked.

"I'll be treated like an SS rated ghoul, and I'll be exterminated, along with everyone I've had contact with recently." Kaneki used his teeth to rip a chunk of his forearm off, the wound healing, and handed it to Yomo, who wrapped it up and put it in a mini freezer beside him. Then, Kaneki said his goodbyes to everyone.

Touka nodded, kissing him again before he walked to the door. "Hey wait! You never asked about Hinami. Why?"

"Because I already met her," Kaneki said. "She's part of the reason I remembered who I am. I managed to save her from Arima, but in order to do so, I had to have her locked up in Cochlea. She's safe, for now."

Touka nodded. "Tell her I said hello."

"I will," Kaneki smiled. "I gotta go. See you soon."

Touka nodded and left, heading back to his house. He sighed as he got inside, closing and locking the door then walking to his room, closing the door and leaning his head against it.

"Hello Kaneki," a voice behind him said, making him jump and spin, turning the light on to find Mado sitting on his bed.

"Akira," Kaneki said. "I told you, I'm Haise."

She raised a pistol with a suppressor, firing at him once, only for his wing to block it. "Don't lie to me, I said. Haise Sasaki never knew how to use his wing. He never even knew he had it."

"I remembered that I had it and how to use it because I remembered fighting Amon," Kaneki said, Akira firing again.

Again Kaneki's wing blocked it and Akira stood, setting the pistol on the desk.

"Haise Kaneki never kissed waitresses at coffee shops, or responded to a pair of known Kanou half-breeds readying their kagune by showing his own and then having pleasant discussions with them. And he especially never kissed waitresses who once went by the name Rabbit."

Akira threw a file at him and Kaneki caught it, opening it and staring at Touka's picture. He remained dead silent as he read it. They knew everything. Who she was, about her brother being in Aogiri, about her having been Kaneki's girlfriend before the Anteiku raid. Even about the new shop, including pictures of Yomo, Nishiki, and the twins, with Yomo and Nishiki with the word "Ghoul?" circled under each.

"How?" Kaneki finally asked.

"When you were in Cochlea, apparently you were constantly babbling incoherently," Akira said. "But when someone listened long enough, they began to understand parts of what you were saying, things about a girl named Touka Kirishima, and about not letting the CCG find out that she's Rabbit. Once we had that information, it was a simple task to piece together other things, and track her to her new shop."

"Who knows about this?" Kaneki asked.

"Just myself and Arima," Akira said. "Arima put the information together in that folder himself, and when you started to be distracted after meeting her the first time as Haise Sasaki, he passed the folder along to me, just in case."

Kaneki stared at the folder a little longer before closing it, sighing. "So now what?"

"Now, you answer my question," Akira said. "If you lie again, I'll be forced to finish deciding how to deal with you."

"Everything," Kaneki sighed. "I remember everything."

* * *

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	30. Chapter 30

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Keeping Secrets

"I remember everything."

Akira motioned for Kaneki to continue and he sighed, walking to the bed, sitting down, Akira now leaning against the desk.

"I didn't remember anything, even after meeting Touka the first time," Kaneki said. "I just had her face stuck in my mind and couldn't figure out why. Now I realize it's because I love her, but at the time it was confusing, and kind of annoying. I didn't remember anything until the fight against Takizawa, when the female ghoul that I took into custody of defended me."

"Why did she do that?" Akira asked.

"Because when I was Kaneki, I was like an older brother to her, and she was a sister to me, _is_ like a sister to me," Kaneki said, feeling like he was digging himself a grave. "After having met Touka, even though I still couldn't remember her, and having Hinami in danger because of Takizawa, my Kaneki side, the memories locked in my head that sort of had their own consciousness before, got desperate and begged me to protect her, but when I got curious about why part of me wanted to protect her, my memories of her returned, then of Touka. Then once that hole had opened, it was like a flood, and suddenly I was both at the same time. Takizawa attacked me so I fought him back, and I won. Then I took Hinami into custody to keep Arima from killing her. Then, the memories started to fight for dominance, and tear my mind apart as they did, so I had no choice but to spend a week piecing together who I am."

"And who is that?" Akira asked, a hand resting on the pistol.

"I'm Ken Kaneki, _and_ I'm Haise Sasaki," Kaneki answered. "I'm a trueborn half-ghoul who used to live as a ghoul, then lost his memories trying to protect the people he loved. I was given a fake name and told a lie about my past so that I would work as a ghoul investigator, and during that time I gained other people that I loved. Then, when someone I loved from my past put themselves in danger to protect a version of me whose job it was to arrest or exterminate them, I remembered who I was before. Now, I'm a trueborn half-ghoul who used to live as a ghoul, and now lives as a ghoul investigator, who is in love with a ghoul, has several ghoul friends, has someone who's like a mother to them that's human, has several artificial half-ghoul children, and whose father-figure caused him to lose his memory for a while, then lied to him about who he was, and yet who is still loved as a father-figure. I want to protect my friends, on both sides of the line between humans and ghouls. I want to protect my ghoul friends from my human friends, and I want to protect my human friends from my ghoul friends. But my human friends have standing orders to kill me if I remember all of this. So now, it's up to the woman I love like a mother to decide whether I live or die."

Akira stared at him in silence for a long while before picking up the pistol. Kaneki inhaled slowly before sighing quietly, swallowing. So this was it. That was her decision. Akira stared at the pistol before aiming at him, Kaneki making no move to block it this time.

"Going by my orders, I should put a bullet between your eyes, then about thirteen more just to make sure that it's done," Akira said. "Your kagune would make a very effective quinque too. A chimera type, and probably one that would even rival my Fueguchi. Speaking of, you forgot to mention that the ghoul who helped you regain your memories was the Fueguchi who was responsible for my father's death alongside Rabbit."

"I'm sorry," Kaneki said. "I thought it would be best to avoid subjects that would open up old wounds."

Akira sighed, lowering the pistol. "Arima will figure it out, there's no getting around that. And when he does, I doubt he'll let you live. Also, Saiko seems to be more attentive and can read you better than the others. Be careful with her. She'll probably also figure it out, so be careful she doesn't let anyone else find out. I will never forgive Fueguchi or Rabbit. But I'm not going to tell anyone about your girlfriend. Burn the file. And don't let anyone catch your friends from your old life."

"Thank you, Akira," Kaneki smiled.

Akira managed a small smile as well, walking over to him and hugging him. "It's what mothers do for their sons."

And with that, she walked out of the room. Kaneki walked over to the window, watching her leave before turning out his light and heading to bed.

* * *

Kaneki ducked under Arima's slash as Arima pursued him, attacking much more relentlessly than usual. He ducked, dived, blocked, and failed to find any time at all to counter. Finally, he leapt back from a slash, losing his quinque and extending a tentacle, catching it, extending three more and readying himself, Arima watching him.

"You've improved dramatically," Arima said. "I'm glad you didn't forget any of my training. If you were as weak as when we fought in those tunnels under the Twentieth Ward, you'd have lost your memories by now."

Kaneki dropped his quinque into his left hand, crouching and readying himself for anything, his wing extending and wrapping around his right, crystalizing. Arima smiled, nodding.

"I see you remember how to use your wing as well," Arima said. "Good. I expect your efficiency in your investigations to also increase."

Kaneki blinked, staring at him as Arima turned away.

"I also expect that no one else will find out," Arima said. "So long as you remain loyal to the CCG, I have no qualms with you retaining your memories, especially if it makes you a better investigator."

Kaneki nodded slowly, retracting his kagune cautiously. "Investigator Mado knows."

"I assumed so," Arima nodded. "We're done for today. I have things to take care of. We won't be training together again for a few months."

Kaneki nodded and left quickly, wanting desperately to get away from Arima before he could change his mind and rob Kaneki of his memories again.

* * *

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	31. Chapter 31

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Passage

Kaneki smiled as he sat down, Matsumae, the ghoul who created the kagune wall at the auction raid, smiling back continuing to eat her seemingly normal human steak, a second sitting across from her, which Kaneki began to eat as well, smiling.

"Who cooked it?" Kaneki asked.

"Master Shu," Matsumae said. "i told him that he needn't exert himself, but he insisted that he must be the one to prepare your meals, and that only he knew how you liked the meat."

Kaneki smiled and nodded. That sounded exactly like the Tsukiyama he knew.

"So how's Kanae?" Kaneki asked, referring to the ghoul who had attacked Mutsuki.

"She...is recovering," Matsumae said. "I would like to apologize on her behalf for wounding your friend. We did not mean to offend you. We were simply-"

"Trying to help Tsukiyama," Kaneki said, finishing his steak. "I know. I thank you for doing this for me. However, I cant keep meeting you in public like this. Eventually the CCG will catch on, especially if they see me eating what looks like human food."

"Perhaps we could find a way to deliver the food more inconspicuously," Matsumae said. "Perhaps in the male?"

"Have it delivered to Re," Kaneki suggested. "I can eat it there in secret when I visit."

Matsumae nodded, smiling. "See you around. And good luck."

Kaneki nodded, heading home.

* * *

Kaneki opened the door to the coffee shop, Yomo looking up and greeting him, signaling Touka that he wasn't alone. As Kaneki sat down at his usual table, Saiko sat beside him, Shirazu, Urie, and Mutsuki sitting opposite them. Kaneki glanced at Saiko, seeing the way her eyes tracked Touka's movements. Akira had been right. Saiko _was_ observant. Touka took their orders and then walked away. After a few more minutes, Kaneki looked up as Itori walked out, winking at him and swaying her hips excessively as she walked past the table, Shirazu staring at her. She sat down at another table and Kaneki smirked, nudging Shirazu with his foot. Shirazu jumped, riveting his attention to the table, as though it were the most interesting thing in the world, a slight blush creeping across his cheeks.

"See something you like?" Kaneki grinned, Shirazu glaring at him.

"Shut up Sassan," Shirazu grumbled. "That's not funny."

"Don't tell me you think she's prettier than Akira," Kaneki grinned. "You _do_ still have a crush on Akira, right?"

Shirazu blushed even more. "N-No way! I just think she's a really good investigator! That's all!"

"Whatever you say?" Kaneki grinned, glancing up at Touka as she set their coffees down, smiling at him for the briefest of moments before walking away.

Kaneki sipped at his coffee and smiled. The others all sipping at their as well, all of them leaving Shirazu alone. For a moment, there was peace and quiet, until Itori dropped herself into the seat beside Kaneki, throwing an arm around his shoulder and making him inhale a bit of coffee, spilling more down the front of his coat. He coughed, setting his cup down and grabbing some napkins, wiping his face and then his coat, sighing.

"So what're a bunch of big strong ghoul investigators like you all doing in a tiny coffee shop like this?" Itori asked, watching the three sitting across from them. "Don't tell me there's a ghoul here somewhere."

"Possibly," Kaneki said, lifting her arm off of his shoulders. "Though, right now, I'm more concerned with my ruined shirt. You enjoy ruining my shirts don't you?"

"She's done this before?" Mutsuki asked.

"Once," Kaneki said.

Itori laughed. "Well, if there _is_ a ghoul around here, are you big strong boys going to catch it?"

"That would be the general idea, yeah," Mutsuki said.

"If it fought back, we'd be forced to kill it," Urie said.

"Well," Itori grinned. "What if I'm a ghoul?"

All of them stared at her, Kaneki's eyes narrowing slightly.

"I'm pretty hungry," Itori said. "You know, I think I might actually _be_ a ghoul. Tell you what, if you show me your _quinque_ I'll show you my _kagune_. Be careful though, I'll probably try to _devour_ you."

Her eyes were practically glued to Shirazu as she said this, stressing the parts that made it clearly sexual and Shirazu's face turned crimson. Kaneki groaned, understanding what she was doing as he felt the hand that was under the table slip a package into the pocket of his coat. She was entertaining herself while also giving Kaneki a present.

"Itori," Touka spoke up. "Stop bothering the other customers."

Itori rolled her eyes, huffing and standing, winking at Shirazu and making him blush anew before laughing and leaving the shop.

"What the hell was that?" Shirazu demanded.

"Sorry, that's Itori," Touka said. "She likes messing with people, and guys are easy to mess with for her because they're always thinking about sex."

"Not always," Kaneki said.

"Really?" Touka asked.

"Yeah," Kaneki said. "All Urie ever thinks about is getting promoted."

"That's because I have priorities," Urie said, sipping at his coffee.

Touka snorted and rolled her eyes, shaking her head slightly. "I like it when you guys come in. You're fun."

Kaneki smiled and Saiko and Shirazu both did too, Mutsuki managing a small one and Urie remaining as blank-faced as ever. After a few more minutes, they all finished their coffee and headed home.

* * *

"Did you hear?" Akira asked. "You and the Quinx have all been approved for promotions."

"Oh really?" Kaneki asked. "Awesome."

"I have a feeling you all are going to progress quickly," Akira said.

"Maybe," Kaneki said. "As long as they're careful. I don't want to see them hurt."

"You're training them personally," Akira said. "I'm sure they'll be fine."

Kaneki sighed and nodded. "I guess you're right. I'd better start having them prep their uniforms, I guess. Especially Saiko. Hers is probably in a ball at the bottom of her closet."

Akira smiled, nodding. "Probably."

* * *

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	32. Chapter 32

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Gifts

Kaneki smiled as he watched the other investigators mingling. He wasn't really in the mood to mingle. Granted, he and his entire team had just been promoted, he to First Class Investigator, Urie and Mutsuki, Mutsuki actually skipping a rank, both to Rank One Investigator, and Saiko and Shirazu both to Rank Two Investigator. Additionally, Suzuya had been promoted to Special Class Investigator, alongside Matsuri Washuu, and Akira had been promoted to Associate Special Class Investigator.

"Congratulations on the promotion First Class Investigator Sasaki," Akira smiled, appearing out of a small crowd in front of him.

"Thank you, Associate Special Class Investigator Mado," Kaneki smiled.

"Stop it, you're embarrassing me," Akira said.

"Right, because _you're_ shy," Kaneki snorted. "It may be impressive to be First Class at my age, since I know that's what you wanted to say, but it's much more impressive to be Associate Special Class at your age."

Akira smiled and shrugged. Kaneki held his arms out and Akira rolled her eyes, sighing, then gave him a hug. He hugged her back for a moment before allowing her to step back.

"So, how's Fueguchi doing?" Akira asked, Kaneki's mood dropping.

"We've been interrogating her," Kaneki said. "She's very cooperative, and has extremely detailed information, not only about the group as a whole, but also about specific members. It seems like when she joined, she fully intended to double-cross them at some point. There's so much information that I expect it'll take a long time before we've gotten it all."

"Haise," Akira said. "I have no doubt that she's a vital source of information, but don't forget that you have a a custody period. After that, she'll be disposed of. So hurry up."

"Understood," Kaneki said.

* * *

Kaneki stared at the pile of boxes and shopping bags Urie had deposited in front of the door. Urie had been training himself hard recently, undoubtedly trying to use a ghoul's regeneration abilities to strengthen himself as much as he could as fast as he could, and he was panting like he had just run this seventy pounds of groceries the five miles between the store and the chateau at a sprint. On top, however, was a package wrapped in brown paper, with Kaneki's name and a return address on it.

"What's this?" Kaneki asked, picking it up.

"Someone left it for you," Urie asked.

He looked at the return address and smiled. HySy ArtMask Studio. Uta. Kaneki instantly had a guess what it was, and when he pulled the cover off, he wasn't disappointed. His eyepatch ghoul mask rested inside the box on top of a book. He pulled out the mask, pretending to be confused, then set it back in the box, taking out the book. He knew the book. It was the same book he had once had Sen Takatsuki sign. And when he opened it, it was signed by Sen Takatsuki, to him.

"Well that's...odd," Kaneki said. "Who the hell is Ken Kaneki?"

Urie looked at the autograph and shrugged. "Never heard of him. Maybe it was the wrong address?"

"Hm," Kaneki said. "Guess I'll have to go and ask the person that sent it."

"Guess so," Urie said.

Kaneki took the mask and book to his room, then returned and continued cooking dinner. Finally, after hours of cooking, and dealing with Saiko lighting food on fire and insisting it was flambé, there was a feast laid out on the table. And not three minutes later, the doorbell rang. Kaneki opened it and smiled as he saw that Arima and Akira had arrived, both in black suits and Akira with her hair down for a change. He welcomed them, both smiling and greeting the others as they all took their seats, Kaneki hanging Arima's coat on a rack by the door for him. Since Kaneki couldn't eat any of the food, he served it to the rest of them, all of them thoroughly enjoying it. Except for the one time Urie tried to eat some of the curry Kaneki had made especially for Akira. Akira enjoyed her curry spicy, to the point that even Arima refused to eat it. Urie found out the hard way before Arima could warn the rest of the table that the curry's spiciness was, in his words, "SS rate." After Urie had recovered from near death-by-curry, Arima, with Akira and Kaneki's help, shared some of his more ridiculous but true stories, like killing a ghoul with an umbrella since he didn't have his quinque, and the time that he fought in his sleep, and won.

Once the food was finished and Kaneki had made everyone a cup of coffee, Kaneki got all of them the gifts he had bought them.

"You bought us gifts?" Shirazu asked.

"To celebrate your promotions," Kaneki said.

Mutsuki smiled widely as he stared at the black eyepatch Kaneki had gotten for him to replace the medical eyepatch he always wore. Saiko had gotten a new game, and Urie a new pair of headphones that would stay in his ears better and also cancel out surrounding noise, a feature he was sure he'd come to regret. Once he had passed out everyone's presents, he walked to the kitchen, where Arima was sipping at his coffee.

"You really make a good parent," Arima smiled, Kaneki smiling back.

"You think so?" Kaneki smiled. "I also got you one. As thanks for...well, you know."

Arima opened it, pulling out a small silver horse hair clip and smiled. "From my name. Thank you. I'll take good care of it."

Kaneki smiled. After a couple more hours, Akira and Arima left, the others heading to bed. Kaneki lay in his bed in silence for a while before rolling onto his side, staring at the mask. It had been forever since he wore it. He wondered if it would still fit. And as for the book, he knew it wasn't his copy. That had been destroyed when Anteiku burned down. So who had sent it? Uta had to know. Kaneki decided he'd go tomorrow, after Shirazu picked up his new Quinque.

* * *

Kaneki walked into the coffee shop and smiled, seeing Uta at the bar, exactly who he needed. He walked over, sitting beside him, Uta turning to him and smiling.

"It's good to see you again," Uta said. "It's been a long time."

"Yes it has," Kaneki said. "The mask still fits perfectly by the way."

"I resized it before I sent it to you," Uta said. "I had to guess at your new measurements."

"You're scary good at guessing, then," Kaneki snorted as Touka set a cup of coffee in front of him before sitting beside him, one of Kaneki's arms wrapping around her as she leaned on his shoulder. "By the way, did you mail this book with it?" He set the book in front of Uta, who cocked his head, opening it and seeing the autograph.

"No," Uta said. "You're sure this wasn't yours?"

"I used to have a copy that was signed, but it was destroyed with Anteiku," Kaneki said.

"How odd," Uta said. "I'm honestly not sure how it got in the box, or by whom."

"I see," Kaneki nodded. "Well, thanks anyway, I guess. Oh, by the way, the next time you see Itori, can you ask her to stop flirting with my subordinates? It's funny to watch but he was basically useless for the rest of the day because he was too distracted."

Uta smiled knowingly. "I'll pass on the message."

"Thanks," Kaneki said. "Speaking of messages, I have one for Tsukiyama to."

Touka sat up, raising an eyebrow.

"The CCG is tracking the Rosewald and Tsukiyama family's hunters, who are gathering food," Kaneki said. "They've let up how much they're gathering recently, and it's throwing the CCG off a bit, but not much. Can you warn Tsukiyama and his family to be extremely careful hunting, and also to lay as low as they possibly can for a while? Tell them that if they could stop hunting altogether for a while, that would be best."

Touka nodded. "Be careful, Kaneki. Don't do anything to put yourself in excessive danger."

"I'll be as careful as I can," Kaneki said. "But I still have to blend in. Also, tell Tsukiyama that if if comes to it and the CCG moves against the Tsukiyama family, and he has to make a choice between fighting me, or fighting literally anyone else in the CCG, he needs to fight me. Matsumae and Kanae as well."

"You know them?" Touka asked.

"We've met once or twice," Kaneki said.

Touka shrugged. "I'll pass the message, but the Tsukiyama family is as arrogant as their social class. And with pride to match it."

"I know," Kaneki sighed. "That's what worries me."

He finished his coffee and stood. "I have to get back home. I'm supposed to make dinner."

Touka gave him a quick kiss before he left, heading back to the chateau, starting dinner.

* * *

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	33. Chapter 33

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Plan

Kaneki stopped as he heard a voice calling out to him. He turned, seeing Investigator Kijima, a short, fat, massively deformed man, standing behind him with his usual shadow, Furuta, standing behind him. Kijima had been excessively mauled by a ghoul in the past, and now lacked ears, and had the top right quarter of his face replaced by something green that made him look like a doll someone had made a patchwork repair to. He also had a peg for a right leg, and was widely known for his brutality, sadism, and his use of a chainsaw quinque. Kaneki disliked him on general principle, even with Haise's mindset. Furuta on the other hand, was a cheerful, respectful, and relatively skilled man not much older, if any, than Kaneki. But something about Furuta simply rubbed Kaneki the wrong way. He just constantly felt like he wanted to tear Furuta apart with his kagune. He didn't trust him. But, he had to play nice.

"How can I help you?" Kaneki asked.

"I'm glad we get to work together on this mission," Kijima said. "I look forward to seeing what the famous Haise Sasaki is capable of."

"Yes, I'm...uh...excited to work with you also," Kaneki said. "If you'll excuse me, it's almost time for my squad's training to start."

Kijima nodded and Kaneki turned, hurrying away from them. He was glad that Haise knew how to control his left eye. Kaneki had never learned, and that would cause a problem now. He reached the main entrance in time to see First Class Investigator Hairu Ihe, a young investigator with a fairly attractive figure and a pretty face, along with light pink hair, walking away from Shirazu and the others, Kaneki catching Shirazu's eyes following her before he noticed Kaneki, who smirked.

"What _are_ we going to do with you, Shirazu?" Kaneki sighed.

Ihe was kind enough normally, but Kaneki had heard from Arima, the one time they talked about Arima's squad and their subordinates, that in combat she was brutal and effective, driven by the singular goal of trying to impress Arima and receive a compliment from her, something that would never happen, but which also made her one of Kaneki's less favorite investigators. It occurred to him that all of his least favorites were the ones who excelled the most, minus Arima, at killing ghouls.

He and the others left, heading back to the chateau where Kaneki tossed his jacket onto the couch, rolling his sleeves to his shoulder, the others preparing themselves for what they knew was coming as well. Shirazu and Urie got their wooden swords while Saiko got a wooden mallet and Mutsuki got a pair of wooden knives. Then, all four charged at Kaneki. Kaneki was actually impressed that Saiko was even taking part. He caught Shirazu's arm as Shirazu slashed, spinning and slamming him into Urie, knowing Urie was the biggest threat with weapons. Then, He flipped over Mutsuki as Mutsuki slashed, kicking him in the back and sending him flying over Saiko, who he caught and threw as soon as he landed. He spun, leaning backward out of the way of Urie's blade the moment he landed, avoiding several slashes before catching Urie's hand at the end of a slash and yanking it further, flipping Urie to the ground before taking the sword and jabbing Urie in the back with it, then sending him sliding across the floor where he tripped Saiko and Mutsuki both. Kaneki tossed the wooden sword toward him and spun, stepping out of the way of Shirazu's, then jumped over another slash. Then, as he landed, he swept Shirazu's feet out from under him, bringing his other foot up and kicking the still airborne Shirazu, launching him into the other three as they stood. Kaneki stood and watched them untangle themselves and push themselves up and sighed.

"That's no good," Kaneki said. "You need to do better."

The others picked themselves up and attacked again, Kaneki once again defeating them all without a scratch. Their teamwork wasn't great with their quinques, but he knew with their kagune it would be a different story. After a few more hours of training them, he showered and changed for bed, then sat at his desk, opening his laptop. He went to the CCG's page and stopped, seeing a video that was waiting to be started, Kijima's face dominating the screen. He almost didn't want to play it, but he did. Kijima was sending a message to the Rosewald and Tsukiyama families. He had caught one of the Rosewald family's hunters. And he had tortured him. But the ghoul hadn't spoken. So Kijima had cut his tongue out. The camera zoomed in on the tongue. Then, Kijima turned the camera back to himself and the ghoul, saying he would be cutting off more pieces, unless someone killed him first, which he openly invited. Kaneki swore, grabbing a jacket and running to the door, opening it only to stop as he found Akira waiting for him.

"Where are you off to, Haise?" Akira asked, her voice dripping with warning and danger.

"I...I'm off to...see a friend," Kaneki said.

"Well, I think that can probably wait until tomorrow," Akira said. "Or maybe a few days from now. We should really be focusing on the current investigation, don't you agree?"

"Well...yes...but...see...my friend is...sick," Kaneki said.

"Haise," Akira said, holding up a burner phone. "If you need to, I'll let you borrow my phone so that you can call your friend to check on them. But I really must insist that you don't go and see your sick friend. You might lead some _bacteria_ straight to them if you do."

Kaneki swallowed hard and nodded, accepting the phone and sighing. "Thank you, Akira."

Akira nodded and Kaneki closed the door, going back upstairs and dialing Touka. She answered on the third ring, sounding to have just woken up.

"Hello?" Touka asked.

"What's Shuu's number?" Kaneki asked. "And also, didn't you warn them to stop hunting?"

"I did but they didn't listen," Touka said. "I'm really sorry, but they don't have any phone numbers that I know of. In fact, I'm pretty sure Shuu doesn't even own a phone. He has servants to own phones for him."

"I see," Kaneki said. "Then I need you to run another message to them tomorrow, first thing in the morning. I need you to tell them not to react to the message. They'll understand, and I'm sure you'll find out. Just tell them not to react, and that I'll signal for them as soon as I can. I need to meet with them."

"You can't," Touka said. "The CCG-"

"Will track me, I know," Kaneki said. "But if it was nowhere near their home, and they found us, we could talk."

"Us?" Touka asked.

"Don't worry about it," Kaneki said. "I'll tell you about it next time I'm in the shop."

"Alright," Touka said. "Be careful, alright?"

"I will," Kaneki promised. "Don't forget the message."

"I know I know," Touka said. "Don't react, wait for the signal."

"Goodnight," Kaneki said.

"Goodnight," Touka yawned.

* * *

Kaneki opened the door to Uta's shop, stepping inside, the rest of the Quinx following. "Uta! You in?"

"Yes, I'm here," Uta said, poking his head around the corner, watching his guests. "I'll be right there."

He ducked back out of sight for several seconds before walking out, wearing white pants, a black, long-sleeved turtleneck shirt, and a black beret. He had a measuring tape wrapped around his right shoulder and a ruler in his other hand. He began to measure the Quinques heads, asking them random questions like he did Kaneki when he made Kaneki's mask. With Shirazu, he complimented his teeth, then asked if he had a girlfriend, or liked anyone at the moment. With Urie, he noted that Urie was very serious, and asked if he could make Urie's mask silly for fun. With Saiko, he didn't really have to ask anything. He asked her hobbies and she told him her whole life story, mentioning how much she loved sleep about five times. Mutsuki he instantly asked if she liked eyepatches, then from there went into a tangent about how Mutsuki could probably pull off dressing like a girl. He never really asked Mutsuki much of anything. Finally, he was finished and Kaneki and the Quinx all left, heading back toward the Chateau.

"So, why did he need our measurements?" Shirazu asked.

"Because we're going to infiltrate the world of the ghouls," Kaneki said. "I'm heading to HQ to get permission now. And if we don't get permission, we get cool masks for emergency situations if we have to escape ghouls."

"We're going to impersonate ghouls?" Urie asked. "Is that kind of thing allowed?"

"We'll see," Kaneki said, splitting off. "Wish me luck. See you guys later." Then, he turned, heading for CCG HQ.

* * *

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	34. Chapter 34

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Helping Hands

"No," Koori Ui said flatly. "Putting on a mask and parading around as a ghoul is not a decent way to investigate. What's more, doing so could weaken your common sense. What is justice if there's no common sense?"

"I understand that," Kaneki said. "However, now that Investigator Kijima has put himself at risk, the sooner we finish the investigation, the more chance we have of saving him. My squad and I can do that if you allow us to go undercover."

"I said no," Koori Ui said. "I'm going to be honest with you, Investigator Sasaki. I don't trust you. I was there when you lost control once before. You're a ghoul, no matter what the brass says. I don't trust you at all. So I'm never going to give you permission to go under cover as a ghoul."

"As you wish," Kaneki nodded. "I'll see you for the meeting in two days, then. I hope Kijima's still alive by then."

He walked out of the building, heading back to the chateau. The next day, he headed to Itori's bar, sitting down and Itori smiled at him, Uta smiling as well from his seat two stools over.

"Hello Kaneki," Uta smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"I need a favor Uta, and it's going to be a bit painful," Kaneki said.

"What's up?" Uta asked.

"I need you to ambush me and my squad later today," Kaneki said. "Just you, or you and a couple ghouls you don't mind dying, or whatever. But I need you to not kill anyone, just rough us up a bit, then leave. I need to be able to connect the Rosewald family to either Aogiri or the Clowns, that way I can have permission to carry out a plan. My reasoning behind the plan is to try to save my friend, Shuu Tsukiyama."

"I heard the CCG was targeting the Rosewald and Tsukiyama families," Uta said. "Linking them to us or Aogiri would make the CCG prepare for a much larger battle, ending in more of them dying."

"You're right," Kaneki said. "Which is the reason for me needing to talk to the Rosewald hunters as soon as I can. But before I can do that, I need my plan approved."

"And for that you need a big threat to be possibly linked to the Rosewald family," Uta summarized. "Well, I know a few ghouls strong enough to take a hit who I can call. And I might have a few white suits in my shop, along with some white masks."

"Perfect," Kaneki said. "You can show up as a White Suit or as No Face. Either way, I kind of want to see your kagune. And I can't promise your friends will survive."

"That's alright," Uta said. "They can handle themselves. I'll make sure they know not to kill anyone. Where will you be?"

"There's a parking garage a couple blocks west of here," Kaneki said. "Ten stories."

"I know just the one," Uta said. "I'll see you there."

"Don't be late," Kaneki said. "And don't hurt me too badly."

Uta smiled and Kaneki left, heading back to the chateau just as Urie returned from his workout. he smiled, walking over.

"Perfect timing Urie," Kaneki said. "I was just about to see if the others wanted to go and get a bite to eat."

Urie stared at him for a moment before nodding and heading upstairs to shower. Kaneki walked into the living room, finding the others and inviting them, receiving resounding agreements and cheering. A little while later, they were walking through the city after everyone but Kaneki had eaten, talking about how to proceed with their investigation since Kaneki hadn't gotten permission.

"Maybe we should do what Kijima's group did and try and bate them into a trap," Urie said.

"Maybe," Kaneki said. "But I'm not so sure they'd fall for the same trick twice. Rose doesn't strike me as being that stupid."

"Rose?" a voice above Kaneki asked. "Who's Rose? Do you mean the hunters?"

They all looked, staring as a group of five ghouls, all of them wearing white suits and with white masks, all looking like any normal member of the White Suits gang. Kaneki could tell that the one in the center, who was leaning forward with one foot up on the side of the building, was Uta.

"White Suits?" Shirazu breathed.

Kaneki looked around at the people walking around them, then at the parking garage more than a mile away. "Think we can lure them all the way to the parking garage and still be able to fight them?"

"I'll just kill them here," Urie snarled, reaching for his quinque."

"No," Kaneki said, catching his arm. "Too many civilians. We wouldn't be able to protect them all. Besides, I have a feeling we'll want to keep this fight as under wraps as possible."

Urie stared at him before nodding. He looked back up at the white suits. "Catch us if you can."

And with that, he took off at a run, Uta chuckling and raising a hand. Kaneki swore and he and the others took off as well, chasing Uta toward the garage. Kaneki glanced back, seeing the ghouls following at a distance, allowing them to run. He smirked internally. Uta knew how to put on a show. Points for being a born entertainer. Finally, they reached the garage, heading up to the third floor before the ghouls landed around them. One extended a koukaku that formed a drill around his right arm, another formed six spider-leg-like kagune, each tipped with a two-toed foot, one formed massive bone-like spikes out of the top of his shoulders with small crystal shards extended from the bottoms of them, one had eight octopus-like tentacles that glowed cherry red, and Uta extended three long, thin, spindly tails, or maybe tentacles, from his back that each ended in a small stinger-like point.

"Shit," Kaneki said. "And here I thought most of the White Suits didn't use kagune, or else had Koukaku. I'll take this one, since he seems to be the leader." He pointed at Uta with his quinque. "Urie, you take the one with the Koukaku. Shirazu, take the Ukaku user. Mutsuki, the one with tentacles. And Saiko, take the spider."

All of nodded, Uta chuckling.

"So you want to try going one on one?" Uta asked. "Sure, I'm game."

the ghouls all leapt backward, separating, and the Quinx all pursued their targets. Uta, on the other hand, charged at Kaneki, driving a kagune at him, only for Kaneki to deflect it and spin, slashing at him. Uta flipped over him and landed on his feet, driving two tails at him, Kaneki flipping over them and slicing them off before landing and darting at Uta, leaning out of the way of the other and slashing Uta up the front. Uta staggered back, but when he wiped the blood off, he was healed already.

"Damn, you really _are_ tough," Kaneki said. "I have to give Yomo points for almost beating you."

Uta drove six tails at Kaneki, who leaned backward under them, slashing them off then straightening up and sending out a tentacle, impaling Uta and lifting him off the ground. Uta smiled, a tail streaking out, now flattened into a blade, and sliced the tentacle off, allowing him to drop to the ground. Then, Rc cells began to form behind his right arm, forming three more arms, all much more muscular than his own, before Uta stepped forward, all four right arms crashing into Kaneki's chest and hurling him backward. Kaneki flipped, landing on his feet and driving his quinque into the ground, slowing himself to a stop before throwing his coat off and extending his wing, firing a barrage of spikes at Uta, who narrowly avoided them. Then, Uta charged, stabbing at Kaneki with a tail, only for Kaneki to avoid it and slash at him. Uta leapt over it, flipping so his back was to the ceiling before six spider legs sprouted from his back, driving themselves into the ceiling. Kaneki stared at him before shaking his head.

"You're as powerful and impressive as I imagined," Kaneki said.

He leapt into the air, slashing at Uta, who flipped to the ground, then flipped, his tentacles shooting out at Uta, missing and tearing gouges into the ground. Kaneki landed on his feet, his tentacles blocking Uta's tails before Kaneki shot forward, a tentacle taking his quinque just before he slashed with his empty hands, Uta reacted to the trick and Kaneki's tentacle slashed, splitting Uta across the torso much deeper, cutting Uta's suit's coat and shirt almost entirely in half. Uta staggered back, healing a bit slower than before as Kaneki set his quinque in his hand again, smiling. Uta clapped slowly, arms growing out of his shoulders. However, before they were fully formed, the ghoul with the spider legs crashed down beside him, badly injured but alive, as the other ghouls returned, aside from the one with the Koukaku. Kaneki looked around, seeing Saiko helping an injured Mutsuki make her way over, Shirazu limped over on his own, crystal spikes hanging out of both arms and one leg, and Urie walked over calmly, kagune extended and his opponent clutched by the shirt, struggling weakly to break free.

"My, you're an impressive group," Uta said. "Alright, we're cutting our losses."

Uta shot forward, six right fists crashing into Urie's torso, launching him as Uta caught Urie's opponent, retreating after the rest of the ghouls, who had already taken off. Kaneki sighed, retracting his tentacles and pulling his coat back on before walking over to Shirazu and ripping the kagune shards out.

"Those guys...who were they?" Shirazu asked. "I had no idea the white suits were that strong."

"Me neither," Kaneki said. "Urie, well done. I'm glad to see your training's been paying off."

Urie nodded and retracted his kagune as Mutsuki and Saiko arrived.

"Why were we just attacked by White Suits?" Mutsuki asked.

"Maybe Rose is connected with Aogiri," Kaneki said. "If they are, this investigation just got a whole lot harder."

Mutsuki nodded, looking over at Urie for a moment before sighing. Kaneki sighed, storing his quinque before turning to the others.

"Let's head back to the CCG," Kaneki said. "If nothing else, they won't be able to attack us again there."

The others nodded and they all left the parking garage, quickly making their way back to the CCG. Once there, Kaneki sent everyone to the CCG's doctor to get patched up while he sent an email to the other Squad Leaders he was working with, informing them that they had been ambushed by White Suits. Once the others were finished at the doctor's, they all headed home to enjoy the rest of their day off there, this time without being attacked by any more Aogiri members, fake or real.

* * *

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	35. Chapter 35

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Under Cover

Kaneki smiled as he opened the packages from Uta, pulling out everyone's mask, the masks each having a card with the mask's intended recipient taped to it. The Rank One and above investigators at the meeting earlier had voted on Kaneki's mask plan in light of the information that Rose was possibly working with Aogiri. Kaneki felt bad about lying, but he really needed to speak with Matsumae. The others all took their masks. Mutsuki had gotten one similar to Kaneki's own. His was a silver metal fitted to his face perfectly with a design on the mouth like it was stitched shut, and a metal plate for an eyepatch over his normal eye with a stitched closed eye designed on it, then a strip of metal around his head above his eyes to help stabilize the mask. Urie got one that was like a black metal beak with the lower part small and extending outward from under his chin, and the top part reaching almost a foot in front of his head level with the tip of his nose. On the back, a pair of metal straps ran around his head to hold it on. Saiko's mask was a silver with a black border, eight sides, and a pair of holes on each side. Kaneki honestly didn't know how she could see out of it, but she claimed she was fine, so he didn't question it. Shirazu's mask was white with a comically huge round nose sticking out of the front, a grin of sharp pointed teeth under the nose, and two eye holes above the nose with a slit running over the top of the mask to connect them. All of the masks also came with an outfit to complete them, and Kaneki had picked up his old outfit from Uta, who said he had remade it for him after he had found out he was still alive.

"Alright," Kaneki said. "I'll go and change, then we'll go."

The others all nodded, taking their own outfits to their rooms and changing, then heading out to the car, masks in hand. They drove to the area near where Rose had been hunting and parked at the top level of a parking garage, getting out and pulling their masks on as they walked to the edge, the lights from below partially illuminating them.

"You really do look just like a ghoul, Sassan," Shirazu said.

"Thank you," Kaneki said. "I'll take that as a compliment on my ability to disguise myself. However, my mask is a bit...special. I actually had to beg to be allowed to use it specifically."

"Why?" Urie asked.

"My mask is the same as one used by a ghoul that the CCG fought with a few years ago, known as Eyepatch," Kaneki explained. "You probably heard about him. He possessed a Rinkaku kagune, much like I do, except that he was able to mutate his into something like a centipede, earning himself the name Centipede later on and elevating his rating to SS. For this operation, I'm going to be impersonating the Eyepatch ghoul, and you four will be my gang. Mutsuki, since your mask is similar to this one, you'll be my right hand. Urie, you're the muscle. Saiko, Shirazu, you're both new. Unless I need you to do something specific, you mostly just need to be here for the intimidation factor. You don't actually need to worry about doing anything."

"Okay," Shirazu nodded.

"Understood," Saiko said.

"Oh, and Saiko," Kaneki said. "After this operation, you and I are going to train your kagune. It's too powerful to let it go to waste as a single-shot attack that leaves you crippled for the rest of the fight."

"Okay," Saiko nodded.

Kaneki turned back to the city below him, watching carefully. They needed a ghoul. Even one would do. He was famous. Finally, he spotted one.

"Bingo," Kaneki grinned, pointing. "Shall we?"

"He doesn't look like he's anyone important," Urie said. "Even from here I can tell he's starving."

"I've got a hunch this will work," Kaneki said. "Let's go."

He sprinted forward, leaping off of the building and falling at the ghoul, extending his Rinkaku and catching himself, in front of the ghoul, lowering himself to the ground. The ghoul took one look at his mask and screamed, turning to run. Before he could, Mutsuki's kagune stabbed into the ground before him, Mutsuki lowering himself to the ground as Kaneki had done, doing an excellent job of acting like Kaneki. Even his bearing was similar. Kaneki was actually really proud.

"P-Please!" the ghoul cried, cowering against the wall as the other three reached the alleyway, walking over to form a half-circle around him. "D-Don't hurt me!"

"We won't hurt you," Kaneki said. "As long as you do us a favor."

"Really?" the ghoul asked before two massive scorpion-like tails burst out of his back. "How gracious!"

He stabbed at Kaneki and Mutsuki, but Kaneki's tentacles easily caught his tails, crushing them and earning a scream.

"That wasn't very nice," Kaneki said before turning, looking back as a dozen more ghouls appeared around them, taking up positions on fire escapes, roofs, and on the ground.

All of them more demonic-looking masks, and no two looked alike. However, as Kaneki turned to them, holding the ghoul whose tails he was still holding above himself, nervous murmuring began to run through the crowd. Kaneki grinned.

"I'm honored that so many of you have come to witness my return," Kaneki said. "I'm starving."

It was chaos almost instantly. Kaneki ripped the kagune off of the one he had caught, knocking him out with a punch, then spun, his tentacles tearing through three and impaling a fourth. One with a sword-like Koukaku attacked Mutsuki, but before Kaneki could move to help him, Mutsuki had avoided the slash and driven his fingers into the ghoul's eyes before beheading him with his kagune. Kaneki smirked. His training was paying off. Shirazu was running distraction mostly, since his kagune wasn't very strong, but he was doing well. Urie was cutting down ghouls almost as fast as Kaneki's tentacles were. And Saiko was standing there looking bored even without a face.

Finally, Kaneki caught Urie with his tentacles as Urie moved to cut down the last ghoul, the leader, who had a root-like rinkaku. Kaneki walked over to them, picking the ghoul up by the throat and pinning him to the wall.

"Not him," Kaneki said. "He's going to be my messenger. So, here's what you're going to do. You're going to go out, right now, and find the Rosewald hunters. You see that parking garage?" He pointed at the one they had parked at. "Tell them to meet me there. And you had better hope that they don't keep me waiting. Because if they do, you'll be the one paying for it. You have thirty minutes. Better hurry."

The ghoul nodded vigorously and Kaneki set him on his feet, the ghoul sprinting away instantly. Kaneki turned, dusting his hands off.

"You're terrifyingly strong," Mutsuki said.

"You did pretty well yourself," Kaneki smiled. "I'll train you to control your kagune too. Now, let's get back to the meeting place, shall we?"

"What's the plan?" Urie asked. "Do we catch Rose as soon as they show up?"

"I'll handle that," Kaneki said. "I can handle Rose myself. You four watch for Aogiri, like our five White Suit friends, and make sure they don't interrupt my...discussion, with Rose."

Urie and the others nodded and they headed back to the parking garage, Urie and the others posting up on the second floor while Kaneki went to the top. He sat down, sighing and waiting patiently. Finally, after nearly an hour, Matsumae and another ghoul wearing a red uniform with a netting veil attached to the hat, which didn't hide their face at all, walked onto the top level and Kaneki stood, walking over to them.

"I bet that ghoul I sent as a messenger is shitting his pants right now waiting for me to kill him," Kaneki said. "Hello again Matsumae."

"Hello Kaneki," Matsumae said. "I take it this is the signal Touka mentioned?"

"It is," Kaneki nodded. "There's something you need to know. I talked to Kijima earlier today. The ghoul that he captured, he died immediately after the video was filmed. Even before it was uploaded."

Matsumae raised a hand to her mouth, tears leaking from her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Kaneki said. "I couldn't help him. But I'm warning you now. It's too late for the Tsukiyama family to be saved from the CCG. In order for the CCG to lay off, Shuu will have to disappear just before the raid starts, and someone else will have to pretend to take his place. Additionally, you and Kanae should go with Tsukiyama when he disappears."

"I cannot leave the rest of the Tsukiyama family when they are in danger," Matsumae said.

"And I don't want to see you die," Kaneki said. "I don't know you well, but you seem like a good person, so I don't want you to die."

"What about Master Mirumo Tsukiyama, Shuu's father?" Matsumae asked.

"If he surrenders peacefully, he will be taken prisoner without being killed, and then he will be in a perfect position to rescue during transportation," Kaneki said. "After that, he will need to disappear."

"What do you suggest we do?" Matsumae asked after several seconds of silence.

"Do you have a phone?" Kaneki asked.

"Yes," Matsumae nodded.

Kaneki pulled out a burner he had gotten before getting the others for the mission and tossed it to her. "Put the number into that. Then, when I find out when the operation is due to occur, I'll text you the information. You need to disappear before then."

Matsumae nodded, typing on the phone for a moment before closing it and tossing it back. He slipped it back into his trench coat's pocket and sighed.

"How are we getting off of this roof?" Matsumae asked.

"Well," Kaneki said. "In theory you could jump. Your rinkaku can break your fall if you extend it enough. But then I'd have to follow you, unless otherwise engaged."

"Oh Kaneki!" a voice off to the side called, everyone turning to see Uta, once again wearing his White Suit disguise. "Can I be of service?"

"That will work," Kaneki nodded. "Matsumae, wait until the others are halfway up the parking garage before leaving."

Matsumae nodded and Kaneki turned, cracking a knuckle and extending his tentacles. Then, as he charged at Uta, Uta grew several extra arms out of his shoulder, slamming them into the ground and dropping Kaneki down a level, a chunk of stone crushing his leg. He shouted in pain, using his tentacles to throw it off before pushing himself up, his leg repairing itself slowly. Uta didn't wait for it, crashing down on Kaneki instantly with a total of twelve arms, collapsing his ribs. Kaneki coughed, blood spraying out, before slamming a punch into Uta's jaw, launching him away. He flipped to his feet on his tentacles, his ribs healing themselves, then shot forward, one of his tentacles shooting out and impaling Uta as he stood. Uta spun as Kaneki punched at him, Uta leaning out of the way of Kaneki's punch and slamming three fists into Kaneki's gut, Kaneki's tentacles disintegrating as Kaneki flew backward, crashing through a support pillar and crashing to the ground. Kaneki stood, his leg finally healed, and formed his tentacles, wrapping them around his hands like gauntlets before streaking forward, dodging out of the way of Uta's punches as he attacked him rapidly.

Kaneki avoided strike after strike, slamming his own punches into Uta, or tearing at him with his kagune gauntlets' claws whenever he could. However, Uta had so many arms that he was able to hit Kaneki more often than Kaneki was able to hit him. Finally, the others reached the level Kaneki was on in time to see Uta slam a half dozen fists into Kaneki, launching Kaneki into the rest of them and knocking them all over. Then, as Kaneki pushed himself up, coughing blood out of his mouth, Uta leapt out of the parking garage, disappearing as he fell into the city below.

"I hate that guy," Kaneki said, slowly pushing himself up.

"How'd he beat you?" Urie asked.

"He's fast, strong, heals instantly, and he's creative enough to manipulate his kagune into whatever he wants it to be," Kaneki said. "I'm actually kind of jealous of his control."

"He's so cool!" Saiko breathed, eyes wide with wonder.

"Gee thanks," Kaneki said, rolling his eyes but smiling.

"What about Rose?" Urie asked.

"They got away," Kaneki said. "However, I did confirm one thing."

"What's that?" Urie asked.

"That's not a real White Suit, and I'd bet the others weren't either," Kaneki said.

"Who was it?" Urie asked.

"It's No Face," Kaneki said. "The Clown."

"Why was he dressed like a White Suit then?" Shirazu asked.

"Hell if I know," Kaneki snorted. "The Clowns never do anything that makes sense. Probably No Face heard I was strong and wanted to fight."

"It's possible," Mutsuki said. "We'll have to report that. So then, if the people we fought were all Clowns, then Aogiri has no connection to Rose."

"But the Clowns most likely don't either," Kaneki said. "Come on. Let's head home. I'm sore and I need to sleep this ass whooping off."

Mutsuki, Shirazu, and Saiko laughed, Urie remaining stone cold silent. They all headed up to the car and Mutsuki drove home.

* * *

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	36. Chapter 36

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Extermination

Mirumo was captured. No fight, no bloodshed. Just as planned. However, Kaneki hadn't counted on Matsuri Washuu being assigned as support. Within mere minutes he had found the most likely course of action that the Tsukiyama family had taken to protect Shuu, though they didn't know Shuu's identity, thankfully.

Kaneki remained silent as Urie sped toward the Luna Eclipse, one of the towers the Tsukiyama family owned, which had a helipad on the top and was also easily reached. Hairu Ihe was already there, along with a long list of brutal and merciless ghoul investigators, all of whom had been given orders to do what they loved most, kill every ghoul in sight. No quarter orders. Even Kaneki himself had bee outright refused permission to take any ghouls into custody, even if it was the permanently crippled and powerless One-Eyed Owl herself. Kaneki hated his orders. But he had no choice. He only hoped that his warning to Matsumae had come in time.

Urie skidded to a stop and the Quinx all piled out. Their formation was basic but effective. Shirazu in back as rear security and general support, Saiko in the middle as the main powerhouse, Urie and Mutsuki in front as vanguard, with Urie supporting and protecting both Mutsuki and Saiko as well. Kaneki would mostly be on his own but nearby, at least until he found an opportunity to split of and head up to the roof to meet Tsukiyama, Matsumae, and Kanae, he hoped.

They sprinted inside, Kaneki trying ti ignore the corpses scattered around, hacked apart by Ihe or straight-up shredded by Kijima. There wasn't a single CCG corpse. Finally, they reached the stairs, sprinting up them. Kaneki used his hearing and smell to check the floors as they passed. On floor two, the CCG was finishing up that floor. Floor three was still a battle. Floors four through eight had worse battles, including the first of the CCG casualties. A pang of fear hit Kaneki as he imagined Akira lying somewhere on those floors, but he kept running, ignoring it. Finally, they stopped on the ninth floor, running out where the fighting was extreme and just starting. Then, they began to slaughter their way through. The Quinx teamwork had improved drastically while they struggled to fight against him. Even Urie was a team player now. After a few more minutes, Koori Ui caught up to them as they were running down a hallway with widows as one wall. They slowed to a stop as Ui turned to Kaneki.

"Investigator Sasaki, I'm worried about what's happening on the roof," Ui said. "Head up there and scout for any enemies."

"Understood," Kaneki nodded, turning to Shirazu. "Squad Leader Shirazu. I leave the rest up to you. Take care of them."

Shirazu nodded and Kaneki pulled his coat off, tossing it aside before extending his tentacles and smashing a window, jumping out and driving the tentacles into the building, allowing his fall to stretch them before launching himself upward, landing against the side and sprinting up it for a moment before driving his tentacles into it again and hurling himself to the roof. He had smelled him. Tsukiyama. One floor down with Matsumae. As soon as Kaneki's feet hit the ground, he turned, sprinting to the door heading inside and running down the stairs. He burst through a door into the room where Tsukiyama was standing and instantly deflected Tsukiyama's kagune with his quinque.

"Easy," Kaneki said.

"Investigator Sasaki, what's happening on the roof?" Ui demanded.

"No one up here yet," Kaneki said.

"Understood, remain on standby there," Ui ordered.

"Understood," Kaneki said, lowering his hand. "Hello Tsukiyama. It's been a while."

"Kaneki," Tsukiyama smiled. "You're blocking my escape."

Kaneki motioned to the window and Tsukiyama turned just as an explosion filled the air over the tower. Tsukiyama's helicopter.

"I see," Tsukiyama said. "What should I do, then?"

"Where's Matsumae?"

"She went to face the investigators that began this battle," Tsukiyama said. "They're one floor down from here."

"I see," Kaneki nodded. "I'll save her. You head up to the roof then drop down under the helipad and hide there. I'll come and get you once I have Matsumae. Now, where's Kanae?"

"Kanae...has been missing for a while now," Tsukiyama said.

Kaneki nodded slowly. "Go to the roof, Tsukiyama. I'll see you in a bit."

Kaneki turned, hurrying to the stairs and then down them, reaching the next floor and sniffing. Matsumae was fighting, and he could smell Ihe's blood. He couldn't say he was disappointed in that fact. He sprinted through the hallways toward the battle, arriving in time to see Ihe firing a blast of electricity out of her her second favorite quinque, T-Human, at Matsumae, who was struggling to block it with a shield she had formed out of her kagune. T-Human was like Arima's Narukami, the white quinque Arima had used the first time he and Kaneki had fought, except that T-Human had only three metal strips. Milo, Matsumae's partner, leapt over Matsumae, only for Ihe to blast him with T-Human as well, splitting him in half at the waist. Milo extended his kagune, preparing to take Ihe's head off, but Kaneki caught him with a tentacle, tossing him deceptively gently off to the side, then flicking the tip of his tentacle toward Kijima as he retracted it, Milo nodding slightly, the gesture completely unnoticed by anyone as they stared at Kaneki, who had Matsumae restrained by his tentacles now. He had gotten her out of the way of Ihe's attack, and she was pretending to try to free herself, putting up a good show.

Kaneki walked over to Ihe, who sank to her knees, smiling slightly.

"You and Koori," Ihe said. "You always steal my spotlight."

"Well, I've decided to give you another chance to be in that spotlight," Kaneki said. "At least, if this works the way I hope it does."

He set a hand against her abdomen, his upper palm and most of his fingers stretched in front of the hole. Then, he channeled his Rc cells into the wound, a kagune-like growth forming in it, filling the wound completely. He let his hand fall, sweat running down his face, and Ihe simply stared at it.

"So...will it stay?" Ihe asked.

"Long enough," Kaneki said. "You'll have to become a Quinx to survive. But for now..."

He slammed his hand into the side of her neck at the same time as Milo's kagune spike erupted from Kijima's chest. Kijima shouted in agony as Matsumae cut herself free, streaking forward with her kagune rapier. Kijima's chainsaw spun into the air before falling blade first onto Kijima's face, killing him. The moment it did, Kaneki grabbed Matsumae with his tentacles, pretending to accidentally slam her into both Furuta and the other ghoul investigator beside them, both breaking out a window. Kaneki shot two tentacles out, catching Furuta, but the other one was knocked out of the way by half a ghoul that was launched out of a window from below. Kaneki swore, swinging Furuta at the building and smashing him through a window, then released him and Matsumae.

"Tsukiyama is under the helipad on the roof, let's go," Kaneki said.

"Why did you save her?" Matsumae asked as she turned to leave, only to stop as Kaneki picked up Ihe. "What are you doing!?"

"I'm not fond of Ihe," Kaneki said. "However, I have to keep up appearances. I can't just kill everyone."

"You could," Matsumae said as they ran. "You sure she's out?"

"She's lost a lot of blood," Kaneki said. "She's not waking up for at least a day."

Matsumae nodded. They reached the roof, Kaneki extending a tentacle down to Tsukiyama and pulling him back up. Just as he did, a glowing red tentacle like a thorned vine tore a hole in his abdomen, making him drop Ihe before he was lifted into the air. He coughed, blood flying out of his mouth, then looked back. A ghoul stood behind him dressed like a slightly more demonic Noro. It had a similar mouth with stitches around it, a dozen small beady eyes above it, and the trench coat was a rusty red and slightly fancier. He recognized the kagune, though. The last time he had seen it it was dark blue, but it was definitely Kanae's. He slashed the tentacle below himself, dropping to the ground as it disintegrated and his wound healed.

"Kanae, stop," Tsukiyama ordered. "Kaneki is helping us."

"Ken Kaneki is in the way!" Kanae shouted, tentacles shooting out again, only for Kaneki to slash them aside with his quinque, sending out a tentacle of his own.

Kanae dodged out of the way of it and Kaneki sprinted forward, sidestepping a swipe from one of Kanae's before jumping and sending a barrage of kagune shards out of his Ukaku at Kanae. She blocked it with her tentacles, then sent them at Kaneki again. This time, however, two of his own restrained them and a third shot forward, impaling her. She would heal, but as he held her in place, her mask slipped off, revealing her mouth and eyes to have been stitched closed. He walked forward, drawing a quinque knife that he had borrowed from Suzuya, and cut the stitches. Then, he stepped back, releasing his kagune and putting the knife away, turning to Tsukiyama.

"Now do you understand, Tsukiyama?" Kaneki asked. "Now do you see Kanae's true feelings?"

Tsukiyama walked over, Kanae staring at the ground in shame, until Tsukiyama hugged her. "Kanae. I...I'm so sorry. I failed you. I never realized that you...Can you ever forgive me for being so blind?"

"There is nothing to forgive, Master Shuu," Kanae said, hugging him back.

"Kanae, who did this to you?" Kaneki asked.

"A child wrapped in bandages," Kanae said. "A one-eyed ghoul."

"Eto," Kaneki snarled.

No sooner had he said that did he bent backward as a massive white hand swept over him, Matsumae, Tsukiyama, and Kanae all barely avoiding being hit because Kaneki knocked them down with his tentacles. Kaneki flipped backward, landing in the center of the landing pad as he stared up at Eto's kakuja body. Eto leaned out of its mouth, smiling at him.

"It's been a while, Eto," Kaneki said. "I wonder what will happen to Aogiri once you're not around anymore."

Eto smiled, sinking back into the kakuja body as Kaneki extended four tentacles and his wing, wrapping the wing around his right arm and readying his quinque in his left hand. Eto laughed as she slashed at him, but he flipped over it, a single tentacle shooting out and slashing at the kakuja's head, splitting it in half but missing Eto by inches.

"There you are," Kaneki said. "You know, your father, Kuzen, asked me to save you."

"But I _am_ saved, Ken Kaneki," Eto laughed. "You're so sweet! Are you going to take pity on me?"

"No," Kaneki said. "I only pity those who deserve to live."

Eto grit her teeth, still smiling as the kakuja's head reformed, but this time more deformed and with several mouths.

"Ouch," Eto snarled. "That hurts! You shitty trash! I'll devour you!"

"Feel free to try," Kaneki invited.

Eto lunged for him, a massive tendril shooting off of her constantly mutating kakuja body and he stepped out of the way, severing it with his wing before leaping at her, slashing the head as well, again missing, but only just. Eto cackled with laughter, babbling about being apples, and making him her child, and eating him. Kaneki flipped, landing between her and the others as she shot toward him. Then, he sent out his tentacles, all of them impaling the kakuja and halting it, Eto flying out at him. She landed in front of him, wrapping her arms around him and smiling.

"I've grown quite fond of you," Eto smiled. "We're so similar."

"We're nothing alike," Kaneki said, bisecting her at the waist with his wing before allowing his kagune to retract, except for a single tentacle that he caught her with.

"I love you," she smiled as she dangled over the edge of the building.

"I'm honored," Kaneki said. "In that case, do me a favor. If you survive the fall, go into hiding."

He let his tentacle disintegrate after he saw that she was already beginning to heal, the bleeding having stopped already, and she laughed as she fell. Then, Kaneki turned to Tsukiyama and the others.

"How do we get out of here?" Matsumae asked.

"You can freely manipulate your kagune, right?" Kaneki asked. "It's a Koukaku but you can use it like a Rinkaku."

She nodded, extending it as a massive pair of root-like tentacles.

"Then form a hang-glider or wings," Kaneki said.

She formed a pair of wings on her arms and he wrapped a tentacle around her, Tsukiyama and Kanae both wrapping their arms around her. Then, Kaneki hurled them. Once he saw that she was successfully able to at least glide with the wings, he turned to Eto's kakuja, walking over and ripping a chunk off, beginning to eat it. Yoshimura's warning about his own half-kakuja problems and how to fix it returning.

"Eto, you had better be enough," Kaneki growled as he ate as much as he could as quickly as he could.

By the time he smelled Koori Ui walking up behind him, he was down to the last quarter.

"Sasaki, is that...what do you...think you're...doing?" Ui asked, too stunned to speak properly.

"I'm sorry," Kaneki said, standing and turning to him. "I lost quite a bit of energy fighting the Owl. I needed to replenish myself."

"Did you...defeat it...alone?" Ui gaped. "Did you...kill it?"

"No," Kaneki said. "I dealt it some life-threatening wounds, but it will most likely survive."

"I...see," Ui nodded. "And...Tsukiyama?"

"Owl ate them," Kaneki said. "I tried to find their body, but it seems that Owl's kakuja absorbed them completely."

"I see," Ui nodded, seeming to be in a state of shock enough that he had accepted Kaneki's statement at face value. "Wipe your face. We still have work to do."

"Investigator Ui," Kaneki said as Ui turned to leave, making him stop as Kaneki lowered the still unconscious Ihe down to him with a tentacle. "You should keep a better eye on your girlfriend. She almost got herself killed. The patch job I did is only temporary. She'll need to become a Quinx in order to actually heal up. She'll probably be receptive, though."

Ui was too shocked and relieved that she was alive to really pay attention to what he was saying. He merely sat on the ground, cradling her to his chest and weeping in relief. Kaneki jumped down to the door leading back into the tower where another ghoul investigator stood, staring at the remains of Owl's body.

"Let's go," Kaneki said. "We have dead to collect."

The investigator nodded.

Kaneki left the roof, heading down the stairs several floors, sniffing out the other Quinx. He smelled Urie first, and headed that way, stopping when he found them. Shirazu was lying on his back, Mutsuki kneeling on one side and Saiko on the other, both sobbing. Kaneki froze, his heart shattering. It couldn't be true. Shirazu couldn't be dead. Right? Urie turned toward him. Urie would tell him. He was too blunt to lie.

"Shirazu...he wanted to see you," Urie said, tears streaming down his face as well. "If only...you had...gotten here sooner."

Kaneki stared at him. Too blunt to lie. Kaneki walked forward, stopping beside Urie.

"All loss in this world is due to a lack of personal ability," Kaneki said. "If you want to blame someone for Shirazu's death, blame your own weakness. A team is only as strong as its weakest member. If you had been stronger, you could have stopped the killing blow."

Urie stared at him for a moment before falling to his knees, guilt and shock filling his features. Kaneki walked over to Shirazu, falling to his own knees and lifting his upper body into his lap, tears rolling down his face.

* * *

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	37. Chapter 37

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

New Members

Kaneki sidestepped Urie's slash, slashing with his own quinque. Urie blocked it, shoving it away and stabbed at Kaneki, only for Kaneki to knock it aside with his quinque, placing it to Urie's throat. Urie stopped, sighing.

"No matter how much I progress, you're still miles ahead of me," Urie said.

"Maybe not as far as you think," Kaneki said. "How have the missions been going?"

"They've been going well," Urie said. "Thanks to Fueguchi, we've been invading and taking down Aogiri hideouts in the Twenty Third Ward. I don't know if I'd consider it particularly wise to go to war with Aogiri, but I'd like to think we can handle them."

"I'm sure we'll be fine," Kaneki smiled. "Speaking of being fine, Ihe and the new recruits should be here today. I want you to help me train them."

"Okay," Urie nodded.

No sooner had he said this did the door open and Ihe walked in, smiling warmly.

"It's my savior!" Ihe smiled. "How've you been?"

"Okay," Kaneki said, smiling.

He still wasn't overly fond of Ihe, but she _had_ settled down a bit. She was no longer as desperate for Arima's approval anymore. Now, she was more focused on trying not to mess up her new relationship with Ui.

Behind Ihe were three others. A boy with short, wavy, light pink hair, a taiwanese girl, according to the dossier Kaneki had received, with black hair in a pair of long thin ponytails and an athletic build, and lastly a tall boy with black hair over his eyes and broad shoulder.

"Hello," Kaneki said, turning to the three. "I'm Haise Sasaki. I'll be your mentor while you're in the Quinx Squad. What are your names?"

"Touma Higemaru," the boy with pink hair said.

"Ching-Li Hsiao," the girl said.

"Shinsanpei Aura," the last boy said.

"Pleasure to meet you all," Kaneki said. "If you have any questions, I'll answer them now. Otherwise, myself, Ihe, and Urie will be training you to wield a quinque."

"You assume we'll all be wielding the same kind of quinque?" Hsiao asked.

"No," Kaneki said. "But you _do_ need to know how to fight with all kinds of quinque, in case you wind up having to use one in the middle of a fight. There's a million things that could happen in a battle. Borrowing a quinque is not out of the question."

The three new recruits nodded, each picking up a wooden sparring sword, Kaneki and Urie setting their quinque down in favor of sparring swords. Then, the three veterans each chose someone to teach and began to drill them on how to wield the quinque properly.

* * *

Kaneki set some plates on the table as Saiko began to set out silverware and Mutsuki brought over the pot of food. Kaneki looked up as Urie knocked on the doorway leading to the stairs.

"What's up Urie?" Kaneki asked.

"I was just wondering when you were going to stop lying to everyone," Urie said.

Kaneki stared at him.

"Urie, don't," Mutsuki said. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does," Urie said. "Shirazu died waiting for someone to show up that doesn't even exist anymore."

"Urie!" Saiko snapped. "Shut up already! Maman is Maman!"

"Sasaki hasn't been Sasaki since the auction," Urie said. "Have you?"

"When did you all figure it out?" Kaneki asked.

"Right away," Saiko said. "But Maman is still Maman, no matter what his name is."

"I figured it out a little after the auction, when you weren't constantly distracted thinking about that girl anymore," Mutsuki said.

I knew that you had changed immediately," Urie said. "It took me a bit to figure out how, you had changed. Then, ever since you beat the Owl, I've been waiting for you to fess up on your own. I'm just tired of waiting."

"None of you can say anything," Kaneki said. "If anyone were to find out, I'd be treated like a ghoul and exterminated."

"So you didn't trust us?" Urie asked.

"Urie!" Mutsuki snapped.

"I do trust you," Kaneki said. "But I want to be able to continue living with you. That's why I'm still Haise Sasaki."

Urie watched him for a moment before nodding. "Okay. Want some help setting the table, Haise?"

"Yes please," Kaneki smiled.

* * *

Kaneki sat down at the bar and spread the paper out in front of him, studying it. It had taken him entirely too long to get this. Before he had been readying about the structure and any possible secondary exits in books. Finally, he had managed to get his hands on the actual blueprints.

"What's this?" Touka asked, handing him a cup of coffee.

"Cochlea," Kaneki said. "It took me almost a full year to get my hands on this thing. It better be worth it."

"You've been trying to find a way for a year?" Touka asked.

"Well what did you expect?" Kaneki asked. "I'm not leaving her in there."

Touka nodded as Kaneki sipped at his coffee. "Tsukiyama and the other three are all safe."

Kaneki smiled. "I'm glad. I might need his help for this."

"What about us?" Touka asked.

"The last place I want you is anywhere near Cochlea," Kaneki said. "Looks like there's a path out through the sewers underneath. But they'd have to et through the compactor first."

"It's going to be extremely heavily guarded," Yomo said. "You're going to need help."

"I know," Kaneki nodded. "Unless all of the CCG has been deployed, like, say, to destroy Aogiri."

"You'd still need help," Yomo said. "As much as you can get, probably."

"I have a few in mind," Kaneki said. "And because I know I'm not stopping you, I'll have one of them come to collect you before it begins."

"You're so thoughtful," Touka snorted, rolling her eyes.

Kaneki smiled, kissing her before looking back to the blueprints, marking Hinami's location.

"We'll need someone to shut off the automated defenses, and also to open the door to Hinami's cell," Kaneki said. "Actually, they'd have to open all of the doors. How are Irimi and Koma these days?"

"They're good," Touka said. "They've even built their gangs back up."

"Good," Kaneki said. "I'll probably need them."

"Make sure you don't over exert yourself, okay?" Yomo asked. "You're only one person. You can't save everyone."

"But I _can_ try," Kaneki said. "And I _can_ save Hinami."

"Do you have a copier?" Kaneki asked.

Yomo nodded, taking the blueprints into the back. Kaneki sipped at his coffee and smiled.

"What?" Touka asked.

"It feels kind of like the old days," Kaneki said. "Me trying to do too much, you guys warning me not to but promising to help anyway. I'm leaving the CCG soon. Probably in the next couple of months. What are we going to do then?"

Touka smiled, kissing him, remaining there for several seconds before pulling away. "Whatever you want to do."

Kaneki smiled and nodded, kissing her again before finishing his coffee and standing as Yomo returned with the original blueprints. Kaneki folded them up and stored them in an inside pocket of his coat before heading home.

* * *

Kaneki shut the door and looked around, finding Ihe leaning against the wall, watching him. "What's up? Been waiting there long?"

"A little while," Ihe shrugged. "I never _did_ thank you for saving my life."

"I'm just glad my idea worked," Kaneki said. "Still annoyed that the ghoul escaped, though."

"Yes, escaped," Ihe nodded, pushing off the wall. "I'm sure we'll have another chance. But anyway, I've been thinking."

"What about?" Kaneki asked.

"I'm a Rinkaku user, kind of like you, so I want training," Ihe said.

"Sure," Kaneki nodded.

Ihe smiled. "You know, I've always looked up to Arima. He's like a father to me. I wanted so desperately to be praised by him. I wanted to be just like him. I suppose if he can keep a secret, I might as well keep that same secret too, right?"

Kaneki's stomach dropped, his eyes widening a fraction of an inch.

"Goodnight, _Haise_ ," Ihe smiled, walking away.

* * *

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	38. Chapter 38

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Planning

Kaneki flipped, slamming a kick into Urie's forearm, Urie not even flinching before shoving his foot away. Kaneki flipped to the ground, ducking under Urie's wooden sword then jabbing his own at him. Urie spun out of the way, slashing at Kaneki. Kaneki spun, blocking it and shoving it away before stabbing at Urie rapidly. Urie blocked most of them before Kaneki managed to slam the last one home, throwing Urie backward.

"You've improved again," Kaneki commended. "That's good. I'm glad I made the right choice leaving you in charge of the others."

"It should be you leading us," Urie said.

"I have my own investigations to handle," Kaneki said. "One of them being finding the One-Eyed Owl."

"And you're sure you know who it is?" Urie asked.

"I saw her when I beat her," Kaneki nodded. "She just...got really good at hiding."

Urie nodded. "How's the other side?"

Kaneki sighed, knowing he was referring to Kaneki's ghoul friends. "They're good. They're careful, and smart. But then, they're also all about as patient as me."

"If that's the case, then for their sakes I hope they really _are_ careful," Urie said.

Kaneki nodded, checking his watch. "I have to go. Furuta wanted to talk to me about the investigation. Next time you see Mutsuki, tell him to be careful and to stop by home sometime when he's not running between squads."

Urie nodded and Kaneki left, heading to a park and finding Furuta waiting. Furuta was wearing the same suit he always was, one that actually matched Kaneki's own black clothing rather well. Ever since his hair had finished turning black, he had started wearing entirely black clothes and gloves, earning himself the name "The Black Reaper" with any of the ghouls he found. Apparently, he was now feared as much as Arima. He hated having to be feared. But he was still under standing restrictions to take any ghouls alive. He was starting to worry that his secret had gotten out.

As Kaneki leaned back against the bench, waiting for Furuta, time ticked by rather quickly. Finally, someone sat beside him. He raised his head, only to narrow his eyes, watching her. Takatsuki smiled happily at him.

"Hello Kaneki," she smiled. "It's been a while."

"Indeed," Kaneki nodded. "You've done well being in hiding."

"And now, here you are, looking for me despite me doing you a favor," she smiled.

"Miss Takatsuki-"

"Oh please, call me Eto," she said. "We can both drop the act. We know this isn't about your day job or mine."

"You're right," Kaneki nodded. "I have to arrest you, and send you to Cochlea. I have a plan in motion to break Hinami out, but I need more muscle. And you're exactly what I need."

"Is that right?" Eto smiled. "Are you aware that your little CCG team that was sent to Rue Island was found and defeated, including the little crossdressing replica of you?"

"Mutsuki?" Kaneki asked, raising an eyebrow. "I assume by Torso."

"That's right," Eto nodded.

"I'm not worried," Kaneki said. "Mutsuki can handle herself."

"I brought another of them back with me, dropped them off at the hospital," Eto said. "Ayumu Hogi, I think her name was? She wore her hair down over her face."

"Yes, that's Ayumu," Kaneki nodded. "My thanks. Anyway, I'll be having some friends break into Cochlea with me to free Hinami. Once you get loose, I'd like your help against the CCG left to guard it. It'll most likely include Arima."

"And Furuta," Eto said. "Don't be fooled by him. He's dangerous. He was raised in the Sunlit Garden, just like Arima. He's excellent with a sword, and rumor has it, he may actually be the current leader of the Clowns."

"I see," Kaneki said. "Do I have your word that you'll help us?"

"If you do me a favor first," Eto said.

"What's that?" Kaneki asked.

"I want to announce my final book," Eto said. "And I'd like you to be there."

Kaneki stared at her for a moment before nodding, standing. "Let's go."

Eto nodded, standing, and turned, walking away, Kaneki following.

* * *

Kaneki sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Eto was in Cochlea now, and Kaneki had just finished being yelled at for allowing her conference. In it, she had announced that she was a ghoul to the world, then explained her final book was written for ghouls. Kaneki had read it as well. It was about a one-eyed ghoul leading other ghouls to overthrow an oppressive world. It also modeled humanity after the Washuu, labelling them as "accomplices of ghouls."

"Uta, you in?" Kaneki called out, opening the door to his shop.

"Yes, I'm here," Uta called back, walking out of the back room. "How can I help you?"

"I need your help breaking out Hinami," Kaneki said.

"Sure," Uta nodded. "I'd love to help."

Kaneki nodded. "You'll be escorting Touka and Yomo in. Yomo less so than Touka. I want you to keep her safe."

Uta nodded, smiling. "Sure."

"Thanks," Kaneki said. "Oh, and the One-Eyed Owl is going to be there. She's on our side."

Uta's eyebrows rose. "Is that right? Well, if you say so."

Kaneki nodded, leaving the shop and heading to the next group he needed to enlist.

* * *

Kaneki sighed, staring at the reports. The Quinx squad would be among the first to land on Rue Island, and would be given special orders to attempt to rescue Mutsuki during the battle, assuming she hadn't rescued herself by then. Kaneki himself was being attached to Arima's Squad in order to defend Cochlea. Kaneki sighed. He had to talk to Urie and Saiko. He didn't want to. Chances were, Urie would try to stop him.

Kaneki turned to the door as someone knocked, and a moment later, Urie and Saiko walked in, closing and locking the door behind them. They sat on his bed, and Kaneki turned to them, watching them both silently. Urie was giving him a knowing look already. Kaneki sighed. He really was a sharp one.

"I'm going to rescue Hinami while you're all on Rue Island," Kaneki said.

"That's treason," Urie said. "You're betraying the CCG."

"I'm defecting completely," Kaneki said. "Assuming Arima doesn't kill me. I won't let Hinami be killed. But, at the same time, I can't let you all be killed either. Some of my ghoul friends will be heading to Rue Island as well, to defend certain individuals that I'm listed. The Quinx are among that list."

"Does Ihe know?" Urie asked.

"No," Kaneki said. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell her."

"I haven't even decided if I want to kill you or report you yet," Urie said. "Let alone keep quiet."

Kaneki nodded. "I know. You were always fiercely loyal to the CCG. Even while you were obsessed with promotions and awards. If you report me, I'll understand. But please, hear me out first."

Urie nodded.

"While you're on the island, I'll have some of my ghoul friends looking after you," Kaneki said. "The Black Dobers and the Apes will be included. So won't a pair of twins that have the same tentacle kagune as me. On the list to be protected are the Quinx, Akira, Koori Ui's squad, Suzuya's squad, and Dr. Kanou's assistant, Kimi."

"Why are you telling us all of this?" Urie asked.

"Because if, in the event that you don't report me, you see some of the people I listed in danger of being killed, I'd like you to help them," Kaneki said. "As I said before, I've lived on both sides of the line, and I have friends on both sides. All I want in this life is for them all to be safe."

Urie nodded, sighing and standing. "What about after you've defected? Do you expect us to defect with you?"

"No," Kaneki said. "I never could, nor ever would, ask that of you."

"Mutsuki's not going to understand," Saiko said. "He'll hate you."

"I know," Kaneki said. "I'll deal with it when the time comes. I'm leaving him to the two of you to help him remain calm. He's had...several problems in the past."

"What kinds of problems?" Saiko asked, confused.

"Just...make sure that you keep an eye on him," Kaneki said. "He'll need you. Both of you."

They nodded and Kaneki sighed. "Okay. I guess that's it."

Saiko hugged him and Kaneki hugged her back. Then, she left with Urie, who stared at him for a moment before closing the door. Kaneki sighed, resting his head in his hands. He was playing an extremely dangerous game. And he had taken a huge risk telling them. He prayed it worked out.

* * *

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	39. Chapter 39

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Beginning

Kaneki sat against the door of the empty locker room, setting his face in his hands and sobbing. He wasn't ready. The assault on Rue Island had begun. Kaneki's invading force against Cochlea was assembled and awaiting the signal, which was Kaneki opening the cells of the A-rate and below ghouls. Once he had, Ayato would use a key card Kaneki had given him to open the roof for the invading force. Then, Kaneki try to free Hinami as quickly as possible, at the same time as the invading force did the same. Of course, that was all well and good, but Kaneki knew he wouldn't be the one to release Hinami. No, the moment he opened the cells, Arima would meet him personally.

Kaneki wasn't ready. He didn't want to die. There was still so much he wanted to do. And he wanted to make sure everyone was safe. And yet, he was going to die here. He couldn't beat Arima. He had never been able to. Finally, Kaneki stood, drying his eyes and taking a long, slow breath. Then, he left the building he was in, walking silently past dozens of guards to the central building, then to the level one control room. He stepped inside, knocking out the man in charge of the control room, then pressed the button to open all of the cells. Instantly, and alarm began to blare, Kaneki turning and walking out of the room, heading for the stairs down to the control room to open all of the other cells. As he was walking, the roof began to open, ghouls spilling through instantly, slaughtering the guards. Any that tried to stop Kaneki, he either knocked out or hurled off of the catwalk with his tentacles, never breaking his stride. He reached the main control room within minutes, moving to the computer and beginning to search for Hinami. After a few seconds, he had found it and headed for the SS-rate level. He felt proud of Hinami, knowing she was labelled as highly as he himself was. After a few minutes, he reached Hinami's cell and opened it, stepping inside. Hinami turned to the door, eyes widening.

"Big Brother?" Hinami asked.

"Hello Hinami," Kaneki smiled. "I'm sorry I'm late. Let's get out of here, shall we?"

Hinami walked over, slapping him, hard, tears running down her face. His heart shattered, but he kept his face even.

"Why did you come here?" Hinami asked. "You'll be killed."

"Yes," Kaneki nodded. "I will. But before that, I'll save you."

Hinami stared at him before hugging him. He stroked her hair comfortingly for a moment before stepping back and turning, walking out of the cell, Hinami following. They headed downward, toward the compactor at the bottom, as well as toward Eto's cell. Kaneki hadn't taken the time to open the more dangerous cells, but he could tear Eto's open for her with his kagune. And then she could destroy the compactor for him. Or she would attack him, in which case he would kill her.

"Big Brother, the upper level is swarming with guards. How will we get out of here?" Hinami asked.

"There's another way out through the bottom," Kaneki said. "It'll be dangerous, but we can use that, if we're careful."

Just then, they rounded a corner, seeing Furuta waiting.

"My my, hello there Sasaki," Furuta said. "What are you doing walking around with an incarcerated ghoul at a time like this?"

Kaneki extended his wing, curling it around his arm and glaring at Furuta. "Get out of the way Furuta, before I kill you."

"My my, you're scary," Furuta said, opening his briefcase and raising Kijima's chainsaw. "It really hurts that I have to kill you, you know."

"I know who and what you are, clown," Kaneki growled. "You dropped the support beams on me and Rize. You gave Aogiri Shirazu's body. And I know that you had Kanou turn you into a half-ghoul. I may not know which type, but I'm willing to bet it's Rize's."

Furuta grinned, a pair of massive tentacles growing from his back, Kaneki extending his own. Furuta grinned wickedly, sending his tentacles out, only for Kaneki to grab them with his own, pinning them down, then lunge forward, slicing them off with his wing. As soon as he had, he stepped aside from Furuta's quinque. Then, Hinami's spike-like tentacle blasted completely through the quinque, impaling Furuta through the abdomen and lifting him into the air, Furuta coughing up blood. Hinami ripped her tentacle back out and dropped Furuta and Kaneki slashed off his limbs instantly, leaving him lying on the ground.

"You're pathetic," Kaneki said. "You're not worth being the leader of the clowns. Hinami, let's go."

Hinami nodded and Kaneki kicked Furuta, sending him bouncing down the hallway before he and Hinami continued heading toward the compactor. However, after barely a few yards, he stopped, hearing Ayato's voice.

"Yomo!"

He looked to Hinami, whose eyes were wide with shock. No doubt about it. He was hurt. Which meant he was fighting someone strong. Only one person fit the bill.

"Hinami, keep heading this way until you hit a fork," Kaneki said. "I'm going to go and help the others. Wait at the fork until Ayato gets there."

Hinami nodded and Kaneki sprinted back they way they had come, leaping into the air and extending his wing, forming his tentacles into another, using them to fly up toward where he could see flashes of lightning. It was about two floors up, the same floor with the control room. Just as he reached that floor, Arima sent several bolts of lightning at Yomo. Kaneki dropped, landing in front of Yomo and crystalizing his wing, blocking the lightning with it. As soon as it cleared, he curled his wing around his arm, using it to block Arima's black jousting rod quinque. He shoved hard, forcing Arima back a step before driving his tentacles at him, making him leap away.

"Ayato, go, now!" Kaneki said. "She's waiting two floors down."

Ayato nodded, turning and sprinting away, Yomo following as Touka stared at Kaneki.

"Kaneki..." Touka began, Kaneki glancing back at her, trying desperately to keep the guilt and despair out of his expression. "I'll see you late, okay?"

Then, she turned and ran after the others without waiting for a response. Kaneki smiled humorlessly.

"That's not fair," Kaneki said. "You're a cruel one Touka."

He shrugged his coat off, exposing the battle armor underneath. Across the suspended platform they were on from him, Arima watched him with a silent stare. Kaneki took a slow breath before streaking forward, tentacles shooting outward at Arima. Arima voided their initial strike and blocked Kaneki's wing with his black quinque. As Arima slashed downward at Kaneki, Kaneki pivoted, his own quinque blocking Narukami in Kaneki's left arm. Arima pressed down harder against Kaneki's wing and quinque, but before he could gain any ground against either of Kaneki's arms, he suddenly leapt backward, Kaneki's tentacles exploding up from the floor where he had been. Kaneki ripped his tentacles free of the ground and charged, swiping at Arima rapidly with his tentacles, wing, and quinque.

Despite the sheer number of objects assaulting Arima, he was able to deflect and step around them all, countering whenever he felt inclined to. Kaneki was able to avoid or block Arima's as well, however, and did his best to find a weakness in Arima's impenetrable defense. Finally, he found it. There was a slight lag whenever he forced Arima to block on one side, then attacked the other. Not much, but enough. All he had to do first was get Arima to drop one of his quinque. Much easier said than done.

Kaneki slashed at Arima with his wing, but Arima stepped around it, slashing at Kaneki. Kaneki blocked it with his wing, but was thrown rom the platform they were on. He fell quickly, extending his wing as he neared a solid floor a couple floors up from the compactor. He slowed his descent, catching himself with his tentacles, only for Arima to land in front of him, having dragged Narukami down the wall as he fell, slowing his fall to something that wouldn't harm him. Once they were both standing again, they resumed where they had left off, as though nothing had changed. Kaneki began to launch a massive barrage of strikes at Arima as fast as he could, not a single one getting past Arima's defenses. Finally, Kaneki sent all of his tentacles and a barrage of crystal shards at Arima all at once, forcing Arima to leap to the side, only for Kaneki to slam his quinque's blade into Narukami, knocking it out of Arima's hand. Then, he returned to his full assault on Arima. Once again, Arima was able to easily defend himself and counter at the same time, though the lag was still present. Finally, Kaneki slammed two tentacles into Arima's quinque from behind. As he did, he moved to slash Arima with his quinque and wing both. However, before he could, Arima swung the quinque around, removing Kaneki's legs at the knee before Kaneki had even realized he had moved. Kaneki crashed to the ground, staring at his amputated legs, then rolled onto his back, staring up at Arima, who watched him silently and emotionlessly.

"What will you do now?" Arima asked. "Will you die again?" Arima stepped up over Kaneki, moving to hold the quinque in front of Kaneki's right eye, barely an inch away. "If I did this now, would that be what you want?"

Kaneki's eyes widened and Arima pulled the quinque back, driving it back at Kaneki's eye, only for Kaneki to throw himself to the side, dragging himself away from Arima, his friends' faces flashing behind his eyes. He couldn't die yet. He wasn't ready. And Arima hadn't even been slowed slightly. He grabbed his legs, rolling onto his back and setting them against his stumps, biting a chunk out of his arm. His legs reattached themselves and his arm healed. Kaneki stood, extending his tentacles and wing again, using a tentacle to retrieve his quinque.

"Six hundred forty five," Arima said. "Six hundred forty five times I could have fatally wounded you. Six hundred forty five times I decided not to. I could kill you in two seconds. Your eyes are the eyes of a dead man. The dead cannot stop me. So what have you chosen? Me, after I kill you, I'll need only a few minutes to hunt down and slaughter those ghouls from earlier. And believe me, I will do exactly that. That is what I have chosen. But what have you chosen?"

Kaneki stared at him before gritting his teeth. His tentacles all spiraled together, forming a single massive hand. Then, he turned, sending it at Arima, along with a barrage of crystals. Arima set his quinque on the ground, the shield forming instantly, only for Kaneki's attack to explode through it, hurling Arima backward. Arima flipped, landing on his feet and straightening, looking at the broken handle of his quinque still in his hand, then down at a single tear in his coat. He smiled.

"Well, you still have some life in you after all," Arima said. "Congratulations. Never have I fought someone who successfully damaged IXA, until our last battle. And now you've gone and completely destroyed it." He turned, looking to the side slightly. "The quinque. I'm underground."

A moment later, a briefcase fell from above, landing a short distance from Arima as Arima tossed IXA's handle away. He picked up the briefcase, opening it into a new quinque, this one with a long black handle, then a blade like a tannish bone-like kagune. it looked like Eto's kagune.

"This quinque was made from a kakuho I tore out of a ghoul when I was nineteen," Arima said. "You're the first person I've ever used it on."

Kaneki stared at it, beginning to understand the full gravity of his situation. Arima could kill him with a fork if he so desired. Now, he was holding a quinque that Kaneki knew, even without needing to be told, was triple S rate, and would most likely be named Owl, after the ghoul he had taken it from. He couldn't win. Not as he was now. He looked down at his quinque. There was a crack from a few inches above the hilt on the edge, then spreading upward along the blade by a few inches as it reached toward the back edge. A single more blow and it would break. It was a miracle it hadn't yet.

He tossed it aside, the blade snapping off as it landed. If he couldn't win as he was, there was only one more option. He closed his eyes, focusing. He silently prayed that Yoshimura had been right about gaining control, and he prayed that what he had eaten of Eto's kakuja had been enough. Finally, he found the power, his tentacle kagune spreading over his body rapidly, forming armor over his torso, the right arm growing into a massive hand as big as Kaneki's torso with a thumb and two fingers, all three pointed and sharpened both inside and out. It formed a mask over his face like a snout and with his eyes peeking out from two holes in the mask. Then, from his back, a single thin, rounded tentacle grew from his back like a tail, a mouth opening on the end of it similar to what Noro had had before his death.

"I've chosen," Kaneki growled, thankful that he was in control this time, though unsure of how long it would last, or if he was strong enough to fight him yet. "I will defend my friends. Even if it means my death. And I'm going to kill you!"

He shot forward, swiping at Arima, who leapt backward before sprinting forward again. Kaneki swiped his right hand, the fingers all streaking outward as tentacles, stabbing at him again and again, Arima avoiding them. Finally, Arima raised his sword, spikes of kagune growing on the back of the blade. Then, he slashed, sending the projectiles streaking at Kaneki. Kaneki leapt into the air, only for them to arc into the air after him. He concentrated, his wing bursting out of his back, fully crystalized. He sent a barrage of his own crystal shards out of it, the projectiles shattering in mid air against Arima's, stopping them and making them fall to the ground. As soon as he had, he shot his left arm out as a massive spike, catching Arima's coat, but Arima had shed it in the amount of time it took Kaneki to realize he had actually caught something. Arima took off at a sprint, wearing a newer model of battle armor than Kaneki's, his looking more heavily plated than Kaneki's.

Kaneki landed on his feet just as Arima sped toward him. Kaneki streaked forward, slashing with his claws and Arima blocked it, shoving Kaneki backward. Just as he did Kaneki's wing fired a barrage of crystals at point blank range. Arima miraculously managed to avoid most, one tearing a gash in his left arm just below the shoulder. Then, Arima darted forward, slashing. Kaneki blocking it with the back of his left arm, the arm having become a sharpened blade-like tentacle with both the inside and outside sharp. He shoved the sword away, swiping with his other arm and Arima turned, stepping forward and slashing upward, removing Kaneki's arm at the elbow.

Kaneki staggered backward and sent his left arm out at Arima, only for Arima to knock it to the side, then streak forward, slashing Kaneki again, removing his left arm at the shoulder. Kaneki screamed in pain, firing a barrage of crystals at Arima, who had already moved to Kaneki's right side, out of the way of the oncoming attack. He removed the wing, then began to slash Kaneki rapidly, the sword tearing into him in a blur of sword after-images and flying blood. Finally, he allowed Kaneki to fall to the ground, blood rapidly pooling around him. Then, h wasn't lying in Cochlea. He was standing in the same void as where he had been trapped while Haise had been in control. Memories began to drift through his mind. Meeting Hide. Meeting Rize. Rize attacking him. Touka saving him from attacking Hide. His and Touka's first kiss. Then, he remembered being in a sewer. It was before he fought Arima. When he had been wounded, and Hide had found him. Hide had known that he couldn't beat Arima. Hide had known how everything would work out. He had told Kaneki to eat him. And Kaneki had done just that. Kaneki opened his eyes, finding Hide standing before him.

"Hey Kaneki," Hide said. "He's tough, huh?"

"He's unstoppable," Kaneki said. "he could beat me with a fork. Instead, he has the manager's kakuho as a quinque."

"He's not unstoppable," Hide said. "You're not fighting him right."

"I'm giving it everything I have," Kaneki said.

"Not yet," Hide said, shaking his head. "You're not fighting to win. You're fighting to sacrifice yourself, and to buy time for the others. If you can't even fight specifically to win, you'll never defeat him. Don't fight to sacrifice yourself. Fight to win. I know it's not very special, or as noble as a sacrifice, but, do one thing for me. Survive."

Kaneki closed his eyes, taking a breath before opening them again, finding himself lying on the ground. He looked down at his body, finding his arms and legs were still missing. He focused hard, forcing his body to regenerate. Instantly, pain erupted through his body and blood began to fly from his arms and legs. Then, the blood focused, forming up on the ends of his stubs, growing outward as it formed into skin, and bone, and muscle. Once he was regenerated fully, his kagune spread over him again, forming full-body armor, minus a mask. Then, a pair of long blades formed over his arms as his tentacles extended behind him, also armored. Then, Kaneki shot forward, streaking along the ground and slamming both arms into Arima's sword, Arima holding him back for a moment before leaping backward from his tentacles. Kaneki grit his teeth, extending his wing again, once again already crystalized. Then, he shot forward once again, beginning to slam his blades into Arima rapidly, Arima fending him off at the same time as dodging Kaneki's Ukaku projectiles.

As they fought, Kaneki began to force Arima back further and further, where Kaneki could better use his tentacles and projectiles. However, still he couldn't land a hit. Arima dodged and weaved past them, closing in again, only for his sword to crash into Kaneki's, Kaneki shoving the blade over himself and slashing at Arima, who flipped over it. He spun, his right arm splitting open into a three-clawed hand, slamming into the sword and extending, hurling Arima. Arima flipped, driving the sword into the ground and skidding to a stop just as Kaneki grinned. Instantly, a dozen tentacles exploded out of the ground around him, combining into a lattice as it shot toward him. Arima leapt back from it and it shot after him before curving upward, forming a cage as it met with more from the other side. Then, just as it finished, more tentacles burst out of the ground, stabbing at Arima. Arima spun, sword tearing through the tentacles and shredding them, only for Kaneki's projectiles to rip through the cage on one side, several stabbing into Arima before he dodged them, turning to face the hole. Just as he did, Kaneki's voice shouted behind him and Arima spun, slashing, and severed a tentacle with a mouth on the end.

"I...won," the mouth said.

Then, Arima spun again, moving his sword into the way just as Kaneki's arm, now combined with his tentacles, crashed into the sword as a massive fist, the quinque shattering a few inches down the blade. Arima was hit dead-on with the fist and bounced along the ground for a ways before slowing to a stop. As he pushed himself up, Kaneki walked toward him, hand retracting and shrinking down to be just beyond his actual hand.

Arima watched him carefully. "You used the projectiles to open a hole in the cage to reach me through, as well as draw my attention. But you knew that a sane warrior wouldn't telegraph their approach like that, as I taught you, so you had a tentacle draw my attention to the other side. But in reality, you really _had_ telegraphed your approach. Impressive." He raised his sword, staring at the broken blade. "And you've broken Owl."

"Don't tell me the great Arima is going to give us," Kaneki said.

"Hardly," Arima said, gripping the remains of his sword with both hands. "This fight will continue until one side is dead!"

He sprinted forward, Kaneki sending out his tentacles, only for Arima to slash through them. Kaneki fired a barrage of crystal shards and Arima slashed a handful out of the air, those aimed at the most immediately fatal spots, then allowed the rest to stab into his arms, legs, and lower torso. Then, as he reached Kaneki, Kaneki extended his right arm into a blade again, stabbing Arima through the abdomen in a non-fatal spot, Arima driving the remains of his quinque into an equally non-fatal location on Kaneki's torso.

"That spot is useless," Kaneki said as Arima stepped back, both pulling their blades free of the other. "You have no desire to kill me either, do you?"

Arima was silent for a lone while before speaking. "I do not."

Kaneki nodded, looking down at his stab wound, watching it seal up, before looking to Arima again.

"Despite everything, you really won't kill me?" Arima asked.

"I won't kill my father," Kaneki said. "My answer won't change."

"Very well," Arima nodded.

Then, he slashed his own throat.

* * *

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	40. Chapter 40

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

End

"Kaneki, there are things I need to tell you," Arima said. "I don't have long, so listen carefully. First, is that I'm not human. I'm half human. Myself, Furuta, and Ihe. We've all got a ghoul parent. But cases like you and the One-eyed Owl are incredibly rare. Most half humans are closer to humans. The only special trait they have are that they've got heightened physical abilities, and a shorter lifespan."

"Shorter...lifespan?" Kaneki asked.

"My right eye is blind," Arima said. "It's a condition called Glaucoma. It's common, at least, for the elderly. I'm on death's doorstep already. I just sped up the process. The second thing you need to know is that the Washuu clan aren't ghoul conspirators. They are actual ghouls. They have a special program in the scan gates to allow specific RC Cell patterns to pass through without tripping the system. It also is in effect for quinque. The Washuu Clan can pass through, anyone from the Sunlit Garden like myself, Furuta, and Ihe, and so can anyone associated with the organization known as V."

"I've heard of them," Kaneki said.

"They're a shadow organization serving the Washuu," Arima said. "Assassins who excel at killing. The leader taught me to fight. Owl was once a member, and because of that, his daughter can pass through as well, because their RC pattern is similar enough. With you, it was your father. Your father was a member of the Sunlit Garden. Rize was your sister. Both of you were able to pass through because of him. However, Rize was a pureblood ghoul, born specifically to breed other ghouls. You were born so close to human that you even lacked the physical abilities other half humans possessed. For that reason, you were deemed worthless, and were sent to be raised by your mother, who didn't know anything of your true heritage, or the existence of the Sunlit Garden and V. But when Rize attacked you, your RC cells reacted to her own, and your ghoul half awakened, allowing you access to your kagune. But not only that. You proved to be rare in three ways. First, you survived to birth. Second, you possessed ghoul traits, rather than human. And lastly, you were a chimera. If they had known what you could become, they never would have cast you out."

"How do you know all of this?" Kaneki asked.

"I am the one known as the On-eyed King," Arima said. "Kaneki, you must make it so that you're the one who killed me. You must become the new one-eyed King."

"Why?" Kaneki asked.

"Soon, you will understand," Arima said.

"I understand," Kaneki said, tears beginning to leak from his eyes. "I killed you. I fought you to the death, and cut your throat."

Arima nodded, smiling. "I've...always hated it. I hated myself, who only ever stole from others...I was finally...able to leave something." Arima smiled, tears spilling from his own eyes as he reached up to Kaneki's face. "My...son...H...Hai..."

Kaneki grit his teeth as Arima's arm fell away. He set Arima's down gently and stood, clenching his fists, his kagune armor disintegrating. He looked to the side, seeing Narukami lying on the ground in the distance. He walked over, picking it up and pressing the button to collapse it into a sword. Then, he turned, finding the rest of Arima's squad standing before him, Hirako in front.

"Is Arima...dead?" Hirako asked.

"Yes," Kaneki said. "Special Class Hirako. If you come any closer, I'll also kill you."

"I didn't come to fight," Hirako said.

"Special Class Hirako," one of the others said. "May we say our goodbyes to Arima?"

"Yeah," Hirako nodded.

The other four members present all walked over, kneeling around Arima and beginning to sob. As they did, Kaneki closed his eyes, listening hard for his friends. He could hear the sound of fighting.

"Children of the Garden," Hirako said. "Arima was hope itself for them."

"I have to go," Kaneki said.

"Kaneki," Hirako said. "He wanted you to have this. And also, he ordered us to aid in your escape."

Kaneki looked back, finding Hirako holding out the horse pin he had given to Arima. He accepted it, slipping it into his pocket. "It you're going to aid me, you'd better try to catch up. I have to go and save my friends now. I'll meet you at the compactor."

Hirako nodded and Kaneki extended his wing and tentacles, using the tentacles to hurl himself into the air before forming them into a second wing, flying to a hallway leading to the compactor. He landed at a run, taking the hallways quickly before slowing to a stop as he found Eto sitting against the wall, badly wounded and with her limbs all amputated.

"Eto?" Kaneki asked, kneeling. "What happened?"

"Furuta," Eto said. "I knew he was dangerous, but I hadn't expected him to have Rize's kagune as well. He caught me by surprise and did this."

"You're in really bad shape," Kaneki said, extending a tentacle and cutting it off with Narukami. "Eat this. It'll help."

"You're so sweet," Eto smiled. "I kind of wish I could move so I could kiss you."

"I'd have to kill you," Kaneki said.

Eto smile, leaning forward and beginning to eat the tentacle. Kaneki stood, turning and continuing to jog down the hallway to the compactor, finding that bits of Eto's kagune had completely shattered it. He dropped into the pit left behind and landed on his feet just in time to see Kiyoko Aura shred two members of the Gas Mask ghouls with a pair of identical blades, which he knew combined into an Ukaku quinque that fired heat-seeking missiles, and Yomo get blasted through the abdomen by Tanakamaru.

"Enough," he said flatly, everyone turning to him as he stood, holding Narukami at his side. "Kiyoko, Tanakamaru, I've never disliked either of you. I greatly respect you both. However, if you do not allow us to pass, I'll have no choice but to kill you both."

"You can't honestly expect us to let you go, Sasaki," Kiyoko said.

"You may have beaten Arima, but you're probably running on fumes now, boy," Tanakamaru said.

"Pretty close to it," Kaneki said as Hirako and the others from Arima's squad all landed around him.

"Perfect timing," Kiyoko said. "Special Class Hirako, help us deal with Sasaki."

"No," Hirako said, pulling out a letter of resignation. "I quit."

He knelt, setting it on the ground as Kaneki walked forward, kneeling beside Touka, whose back was bloodied, and who was kneeling beside Ayato, who was heavily wounded. Beside them, Hinami was also hurt.

"Sorry I'm late," Kaneki said. "I had some things to take care of. I'll deal with this, and then we can all go home. I'll just be a minute."

Touka kissed him then nodded and Kaneki stood, turning back to Kiyoko and Tanakamaru.

"This is your last chance," Kaneki said, opening Narukami into its ranged form and extending his wing. "Let us pass or die."

"We can't do that," Kiyoko said. "You're a traitor. So we'll kill you."

Kaneki sighed. "In that case, you have my apologies."

He launched a barrage of crystal shards at the same time as firing Narukami. The attack flashed past Tanakamaru, who had barely avoided it, only for Kaneki to sprint at Kiyoko, slashing at her, Kiyoko blocking it with her left blade, slashing at him with her right. He flipped over it, switching Narukami to the other hand and curling his wing around his free arm and slashed at her. Kiyoko blocked it, stabbing at him and he sidestepped it, knocking the blade away with Narukami.

"Bad move," Kaneki said, driving Narukami through her abdomen.

He didn't hit a vital spot, just one that would hopefully keep her down. He pulled the blade back out and took her quinque, smashing them with his tentacles. Then, he turned, his wing blocking one of the barrels of Tanakamaru's quinque before Kaneki slashed upward with Narukami, severing the barrel near the handle. Tanakamaru turned away from Kaneki, swinging the other end around at him, but Kaneki stepped forward, driving his wing through Tanakamaru's back.

"Never show your back to the enemy," Kaneki said, pulling his wing out and taking Tanakamaru's quinque as well, smashing it also. "Let's go."

He turned, running away from the investigators, into a drainage tunnel, and the other ghouls, along with Arima's squad followed. Once they were in the tunnel, Kaneki glanced back at the others. He didn't see Uta, but Eto was quickly catching up to them from behind. She jogged up beside Kaneki on a pair of legs formed from her kagune and smiled.

"Where we going?" Eto asked.

"Somewhere we can lay low," Kaneki said. "We have a place to hide until the Rue Island group gets back."

"Why is she here?" Touka asked.

"She broke the compactor," Kaneki said. "She's decided to work with us."

"No," Eto said. "I decided to work with _you_. I don't care about the rest of them. I serve the One-Eyed King."

Kaneki remained silent as they ran. Then, finally, the left the tunnel, escaping into the night.

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	41. Chapter 41

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Alliances

Kaneki jerked, snapping awake as something landed on top of him. His muscle reaction was immediate, his tentacles grabbing the would-be attacker and lifting them into the air as his wing formed, curling around his arm, only for him to stop. He stared up at his captive, a girl that had been in Arima Squad, last he knew. She wore a black shirt and shorts now, with a pair of slipper, the last of which slipped off, falling to the bed. She looked terrified, and so did the boy of about the same age standing at the foot of the bed.

"What...where...are we?" Kaneki asked. "How...How did we get here? Where's Arima?"

"You...You don't remember?" the boy asked, glancing up at the girl, who Kaneki lowered to the ground, letting his kagune fade. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Kaneki thought for a moment. He remembered being in Cochlea. He remembered preparing to save Hinami. Then he remembered fighting someone, though he couldn't remember who.

"I was fighting someone," Kaneki said. "I think I was losing. What happened? And where are we?"

"You released a large amount of ghouls and then fought Arima," the girl said, still seeming a little uneasy. "You killed him. Arima's last order to us was to aid you after his death."

Kaneki thought back, the memories from the fight and what followed swam back to him slowly and he nodded. "That's right. We're at the rendezvous point. Sorry for pinning you to the ceiling."

"It's alright," the girl said. "We were told to wake you up. I didn't think about how you'd react to being woken up like that. Especially after the fight."

"Is everyone else up already?" Kaneki asked.

The boy nodded. "You're the last one. We're expecting most of the Rue Island group to arrive soon."

"Already?" Kaneki asked. "That was fast."

"Not really," the boy said. "Your body shut down after we got here. You've been asleep for a few days."

"Really?" Kaneki asked. "What about the others?"

"Everyone's fine," the girl said. "Casualties were low. Only a handful of Gas Mask ghouls were lost."

"What about Ayato and Yomo?" Kaneki asked. "Uh, Black Rabbit and Raven."

"They're both fine," the girl said. "Their wounds were relatively minor for a ghoul."

Kaneki nodded, standing and stretching, groaning as his body ached. Now that he was mostly awake, he could feel his stomach complaining about the lack of food, and his muscles were still overtaxed from fighting Arima, coupled with not being stretched or worked properly to recover after, instead lying in bed for days, made him feel stiff and sore all over. He looked around, seeing Narukami leaning beside the bed. he picked it up, staring at it.

"Okay," Kaneki said. "Let's go."

The two nodded, leading him out the door, Kaneki finding Hirako waiting just outside. He held out Narukami as he walked over.

"Here," Kaneki said. "This should probably belong to you."

Hirako shook his head. "I think he'd want you to have it."

Kaneki smiled slightly, nodding. He collapsed it into a briefcase and walked down the hallway, reaching a kitchen of sorts. He looked around, smiling as he smelled coffee, seeing Touka making some. He walked over to the table, sitting down just as she set the cup in front of him.

"Good morning," Touka smiled.

"Good morning," Kaneki smiled back. "Did I miss anything important?"

"Not excessively," Touka said, shaking her head. "We've all been resting since escaping Cochlea."

Kaneki sipped the coffee and smiled. "It's as delicious as always."

Touka smiled, walking over to him. "You had me worried."

Kaneki opened his mouth to respond, only for Touka to slam a fist into his head, bouncing his head off of the table, nearly spilling his coffee.

"There," Touka smiled. "Now I feel better."

"At least one of us does," Kaneki groaned, holding his bleeding nose. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's alright," Touka sighed. "I know you didn't have a choice. And you came back this time. So we're even now."

Kaneki smiled, nodding, taking another drink of his coffee as Yomo walked into the room.

"Good morning Yomo," Kaneki said, still pinching his nose.

"Good morning," Yomo said. "The others are here."

Kaneki nodded, letting go of his nose slowly and sniffing, finding it was stuffed up from the blood but was healed. He grabbed a paper towel from a roll off to the side and blew his nose several times before throwing it away. He walked out of the kitchen with Yomo and Touka, following them down a long winding hallway before stopping as they reached a doorway where Irimi and Koma were waiting. Both stood up straight, smiling.

"You guys made it," Kaneki smiled. "Good. It's good to finally get to see you two again."

"Same to you," Irimi smiled. "We still owe you for saving our lives."

"No, you don't," Kaneki smiled. "All of us together like this...it feels kind of like Anteiku all over again, doesn't it?"

They all smiled, nodding, just as Nishiki arrived from a side hallway, dropping an arm on Touka's shoulder.

"Does this four-eyes get to be a part of that group?" Nishiki asked.

Kaneki smiled, nodding. "How'd it go?"

Nishiki sighed. "I couldn't find her. I ended up having to help Shiro and Kuro fight a bunch of Kanou's failures, and he got away. I don't even think she knew I was there."

"We'll find her," Kaneki promised. "Did we lose anyone?"

"I don't think so," Irimi said. "I'm pretty sure your entire list was saved. Although, that Ui guy was a pain in the ass, and me and Koma were hard-pressed to survive fighting him without killing him."

"Thanks for that," Kaneki said. "Did you bring them here?"

"Yeah, we brought the Blades and White Suits' leaders," Irimi sighed. "Honestly, though, the White Suits' leader's not very bright."

"I know," Kaneki said. "That's part of what I'm counting on."

Irimi nodded and they opened the door, the six of them walking into a large open room where ghouls were standing around talking to each other.

Kaneki walked toward Naki and Three Blades Miza first. However, just as he was nearing them, Naki shot forward, kagune forming, and slashed at Kaneki. Kaneki formed his wing around his arm and blocked it, making no move to fight back.

"Boss, what are you doing!?" one of the other White Suits shouted.

"This is the guy that killed Big Brother!" Naki shouted, tears running down his face. "This is the one guy I can never forgive!"

Naki stop!" Ayato shouted. "Now isn't the time for this!"

"That's enough, Ayato," Kaneki said as he shoved Naki's sword away, making him leap backward, Kaneki retracting his wing and tossing Narukami to Hirako, who was standing off to one side.

"It's not just that the guy who killed Big Bro is here," one of Naki's other two body guards said. "Who the fuck invited the doves?"

"They helped us escape Cochlea," Kaneki said calmly. "They're our friends."

"To you maybe!" Naki said.

"The famed One-Eyed King is a human-loving shit head," the White Suit who had pointed out Hirako and the others growled.

"You should choose your words more carefully," Kuro said.

"When you're talking out our brother," Shiro said, both sisters extending their kagune.

"Stand down," Kaneki said.

Both complied, their tentacles fading, and Naki growled in rage.

"Ken Kaneki," Miza said. "I don't believe we were ever properly introduced. I am Three Blades Miza, a former executive of Aogiri. On the island, one of your friends," she gestured to Tsukiyama, "saved my life. I'm interested in what you all seek. I wish to hear what you have to say before I make my decision."

Kaneki remained silent, eyes slowly traveling around the room. Uta wasn't present. But everyone else was. Even Eto, who looked curious as to what his answer would be.

"I will carry on the wishes of the former king, and create a world where ghouls and humans can understand each other," Kaneki said.

Everyone was silent for a moment before Kaneki continued.

"I understand that you all probably think that it's impossible," Kaneki said. "And you're right. It _does_ seem to be. But I've lived as both a human and a ghoul. Humans have only ever been taught that ghouls are monsters to be destroyed. And ghouls have to eat human flesh to survive. In order for the two sides to understand each other, they have to _both_ make an effort to find a way to coexist."

"And how exactly do we do that?" One of Naki's bodyguards asked.

"We'll start with killing Furuta," Kaneki said. "I'm tired of him manipulating everything. After that, we'll ask nicely. By hijacking TV, and by posting on the internet. That should get some attention."

The others nodded and a door opened, the ghouls who had been released at Cochlea walking in before bowing behind Kaneki, everyone else staring in surprise.

"As of today, we're forming a new organization called Black Goat," Kaneki said. "Our goal will be to defend other ghouls, and to create peace between the humans and ghouls."

The others all nodded their agreement one by one, leaving only Naki. Finally, he sighed, nodding as well.

Just then, Hinami walked over to Kaneki. "Big Brother. There's...something you need to see."

Kaneki nodded, following her out of the room until they reached a door where a former Aogiri member called Grave Robber for her habit of keeping quinque from investigators she killed was leaning against the wall. She looked over at him, pushing off the wall and turning to him.

"You're Ken Kaneki," she said. "Former leader of the Quinx, and the new One-Eyed King."

"And you're Grave Robber," Kaneki said. "Are you here to join?"

"I just haven't decided what I'm doing next yet," she said. "She's in there."

She jabbed a thumb at the door, and Kaneki raised an eyebrow in confusion. He slid the door open and froze. Takizawa was leaning against the wall on the left, Banjou was barely awake in a chair beside the bed, and lying in the bed, covered in bandages, was Akira. Kaneki stared at her, walking forward only to fall to his knees beside the bed.

"What happened?" Kaneki asked.

"She saved me," Takizawa said, voice small and sounding ashamed. "I killed Tatara, but Hoji ordered everyone to kill me, so I killed him first. Mado told me to die too. I would have killed her, if Amon hadn't saved her. I fought him, and beat him, but then that kid you were teaching, the one Torso liked, showed up and caught me off guard. You taught her well. She fought just like you do using your tentacles. Anyway, she almost beat me. Kind of impressed about that, actually.

"And then Akira shielded you," Kaneki said.

"Yeah," Takizawa said, sounding ashamed again. "When she did, it pissed your student off, so your student...kept stabbing her. Again and again. Finally, Amon managed to stop it and told me to take Mado and run. So I did. Took little miss sunshine outside with me too. Figured she'd be helpful."

"Will you join our organization?" Kaneki asked.

"You've already got an owl," Takizawa said. "You don't need me."

"That's not true," Kaneki said. "For some reason, I get the feeling we're going to need everyone. And since you seem to have regained your sanity, I'd like for you to be a part of it."

"You're an interesting one," Takizawa said. "I'll tell you what. If you can save Akira's life, I'll join."

Kaneki nodded. He looked back to Akira, then to Banjou. "What have you done so far?"

"She needed blood, so we gave her a transfusion, but...well...we're ghouls, and she's human," Banjou said. "She's barely holding together. I managed to get the wounds sealed up, but I don't know if she'll..."

"It's alright," Kaneki said. "We'll find a doctor who can help. Just do what you can for now."

Banjou nodded and Kaneki turned, leaving the room, Hinami staying, and heading back to the others, letting them know he'd be going out for a while.

* * *

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	42. Chapter 42

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Meeting

Kaneki stepped out of the shadows, watching as Furuta stopped, staring at him in fear before forcing a wide smile.

"Special Investigator," Furuta greeted. "What a surprise. I certainly wasn't expecting to see you here. I thought you'd be too busy. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Kaneki rested Narukami on the ground between his feet, his hands resting on the end of its grip. "Honestly, I thought I was coming here to kill you. And I still think that I might. But first, a I have a few questions for you to answer, and if I find out you were lying, I'll finish what I started in Cochlea. Who currently leads the CCG?"

"Oh that," Furuta smiled. "That mess with the Washuu family being almost totally wiped out?"

"I'm not playing games, Furuta," Kaneki growled. "I know you had the Clowns do it, and I know that I'm the one currently being held as suspect. What I want to know, is, who is currently in charge? You have once chance to answer. Waste my time, or in any way leave it unclear, and I'll amputate a limb for you."

Furuta regarded him in silence for a moment before sighing. "At the moment, it's Matsuri. However, I had the former chairman write his last will and testament to give the power to me before he died. So it'll be mine soon. And since you wish to have a talk, undoubtedly to discuss a peace treaty, how about we finish the discussion right here?" He walked forward, stopping beside Kaneki. "How about...you take all of the blame, and disappear? And I'll even be a good sport and sent those half-ghoul kids of yours to kill you. Whataya say?"

"What do I say?" Kaneki asked, grabbing the sword and spinning, slashing at Furuta and taking off an arm, which Furuta caught instantly, leaping away. "I say that if I kill you, Matsuri gets the throne. And while Matsuri's not exactly the easiest to talk to, and marginally more stubborn than I'd like, he's still a better option than you."

"I'm sorry to hear you say that," Furuta said, holding his arm beside his stump, the limb reattaching itself and reconnecting. "Because, if you were to play the evil tyrant, and slaughter all who defied you, humans and ghouls would have no choice but to work together to defeat you. For only with an enemy towering above all can humanity finally break through the barrier of species."

"You disgust me," Kaneki said. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask. Why'd you drop those steel girders on Rize?"

"Well, I'll happily explain that to you," Furuta said. "You see, there are many parts of V. There's the cleaners, who simply do all of the dirty work and who kill whoever we need killed, there are those whose sole purpose is to plant the seeds of future generations, those whose sole purpose are to receive those seeds, and those like Kishou Arima and myself who carry the blood of humans, and are, therefore, unfit to reproduce, and therefore are only meant to do as we're told. Rize was among those whose sole purpose was to be bred by the old man and his offspring, to be raped again and again as the old man saw fit. I couldn't stand the idea of it. Even as children, Rize was always precious to me. I would often dream of marrying her one day. The thought of her being raped by the old man and his offspring was too much to bear. That's why I helped her escape." He suddenly seemed to get mad. "But all she ever did was enjoy that freedom. She never payed the slightest heed to me, who had gotten her that freedom." Suddenly, he covered his face, weeping dramatically. "I often worried that one day, during that celebration of freedom, she'd find herself pregnant. The very thought kept me up at night." He lifted his head, sitting down on some pieces of construction material off to the side, smiling cheerfully. "In the end, I just decided to keep her close at hand. And now that that Geezer's dead, if I become chairman, I can marry Rize for real!"

"I see," Kaneki nodded. "I can almost understand that sentiment. Almost."

"Really?" Furuta asked.

"No," Kaneki growled. "I don't particularly care about your love life. And I don't care that my sister left you behind the first chance she got. Truthfully, I think it was probably the smartest thing she's ever done."

"Well, I suppose not everyone can love a good romance story," Furuta shrugged. "Oh, by the way, one last thing. I'll be having Rize bear me a buuuunch of kids very soon. One Hundred One Dalmatians style. They'll make their debut one day, so do me a favor and play with them when the time comes."

"When the time comes, I'll tear any children you ever have apart and leave their entrails on your doorstep," Kaneki said. "But for today, I have other matters to attend to."

Furuta bowed and turned, walking away. Kaneki turned as a ghoul stepped out of the shadows ahead of him. It was the ghoul who had taken command of the most recent Cochlea escapees, an S-rank ghoul named Fuka, who had been acting as a sort of bodyguard for Kaneki, unnecessary as it was.

"Should we really be letting him go?" Fuka asked.

"Probably not," Kaneki said. "However, for the time being, we're going to be busy preparing."

"For what?" Fuka asked.

"His children," Kaneki said. "I'm absolutely certain he was talking about half-ghouls. Probably an upgraded version of the Quinx. And if it's One Hundred One Dalmatians, that means we'll be dealing with an army of them."

Fuka nodded and they turned, heading back to their hideout.

* * *

Kaneki sighed, staring at the TV. It was still going on. For the last several hours, the Clowns, hundreds of them, had been assaulting the CCG Branch Offices. As soon as Kaneki had seen the report on TV, not an hour after speaking wth Furuta, Kaneki had ordered Tsukiyama to get as plain many white suits as he could find in a short amount of time. Then, he had sent Miza to get Naki, to ask them to help fight the Clowns. Now, after three hours of the CCG struggling to fight the Clowns, Kaneki had heard Naki shouting and heading for Tsukiyama, so he had decided to go and explain himself.

Kaneki opened the door, finding Naki standing in front of Tsukiyama, demanding to know what they had the suits for. Off to the side were Naki's two bodyguards and Miza.

"If you want to know, ask yourself," Tsukiyama smiled. "He's right behind you."

"I need the suits for my plan," Kaneki said. "I had asked Miza to explain it to you."

"I tried but he ran off in the middle of it," Miza said. "My bad."

"It's alright," Kaneki said. "Allow me to explain. If our side show up in the white suits, and defend the CCG by destroying the clowns, We'll be able to show the world that we're not the enemy. But in order for us to succeed, I need the strength of your White Suits gang."

"Forget it!" Naki growled. "I may not be able to change the fact that you're the One-Eyed King, but my White Suits will never work for you! You kill Big Brother Yamori! Joining hands with you just ain't our style."

Kaneki sighed. "Ghouls are made to steal from each other. Those are Yamori's words. I may have sent Yamori to his death, but I only did so so that I myself could live. I fought Yamori on the terms of his 'style' and I won. That's it. I _need_ the strength of the White Suits. So, Naki, what does your style say that I need to do in order to ensure that you follow me?"

"It's pretty simple," Naki grinned, cracking his middle finger. "We got a pretty simple way of doing things in the Thirteenth Ward. The strongest guy takes all."

"As you wish," Kaneki said. "This works out pretty well actually. You said you wanted to kill me, right?"

"You fucking betcha!" Naki shouted, streaking forward and slashing at Kaneki with his kagune.

Kaneki stepped aside from the slash and planted his fist in Naki's chest, launching him backward into the wall. Naki crumpled to the floor, groaning and Kaneki focused, forming his tentacles, this time spiked heavily, as Yamori's had been. As Naki looked up at Kaneki, Kaneki cracked his finger, staring down at Naki.

"Is that all the leader of the White Suits is capable of?" Kaneki asked. "You're barely fit to lick Yamori's boots. Let alone lead in his place."

"That's...Big Brother's kagune!" Naki breathed, staring. "Does Big Brother live on inside of you?"

"Well, I _did_ eat his kakuho," Kaneki said. "But not exactly."

"As promised, the White Suits are yours," Naki said.

"That's not why I asked you to follow me," Kaneki said. "I need your help to fight the clowns. That's all. The White Suits belong to you."

Naki stared at him before nodding, standing. "If you're going to pretend to be White Suits, you need to have the right look. We'll make sure you all got it."

Kaneki nodded and turned, walking out of the room.

* * *

Kaneki leaned back against the pole in silence. While he had been dealing with Naki, Nico had shown up out of nowhere and given Banjou and Nishiki a card with the contact number for a group called the Great Wheel Act. A ghoul support group with a medical team that could, theoretically, help Akira.

"What if this is a trap?" Nishiki asked.

"Then we'll figure out who's after us and eliminate them," Kaneki said. "Or maybe capture them and have Naki extract information."

"Not a bad plan," Ayato said.

Just then, a pair of men stepped into view. One was Ogura, the self-proclaimed "ghoul expert" that had once talked about how horrible ghouls were, and about how they all wanted to eat humans and nothing else. At least, until Eto's final book had been released, after which he had been a fan of ghouls. The other looked to be his student.

"Good evening," Ogura said. "I'm Dr. Ogura."

"Yes," Kaneki nodded. "You used to go on TV and talk about what awful monsters we are."

"I've come to regret most of what I said back then," Ogura said. "However, currently, I'm only the vice secretary of the Great Wheel Act."

"I'm going to cut to the chase," Kaneki said. "We're pressed for time, so I'm not going to waste any. Do you have a medical team who can treat both humans and ghouls?"

"We do," Ogura nodded. "Outwardly, they only treat humans. But within the organization, there are members who are well informed about ghoul physiology and who can treat ghoul patients."

"Good," Kaneki said. "How soon can they be ready for pickup?"

"It will be some time," Ogura said. "If you would like, we have a more comfortable location that we could talk a short distance away."

Kaneki regarded him in silence for a moment before nodding. They followed them to a hotel where Ogura rented them all a room and they all sat down as Ogura explained that the Great Wheel Act had actually been started by college students at Kami University, but had been shut down, only to reform again later.

"At base, the main principle of our organization has never changed," Ogura said.

"What principle?" Kaneki asked.

"We just happened to be born human," Ogura said. "In this war between humans and ghouls, the only thing that determines sides is which you happened to be born as. One of the students who espoused the idea of the organization was a medical student who wanted to create a method for the treatment of ghouls. Apparently, the man she loved was a ghoul."

Nishiki's eyes grew to saucers and he stared at Ogura.

"Is something wrong?" Ogura asked

"No, nothing," Nishiki said. "Continue."

"Surprisingly," Ogura's assistant spoke up, "aside from the handling of RC cells, the treatment of ghouls and humans doesn't differ all that much."

"So basically, if you can suppress the RC cells, surgical procedures for a human would work on Ghouls as well?" Kaneki asked.

"That's right," Ogura's assistant nodded.

"So basically, we just need an RC suppressant?" Kaneki asked.

"Yes," Ogura nodded. "If you had that, we'd be able to treat your injured friend."

"Then we'll just have to get some," Kaneki said.

"That won't be easy," Ogura said. "The drug is only available to officially recognized hospitals."

"I've heard they stockpiled the drug in the lab," Nishiki said.

"Okay," Kaneki said. "I'll get it. After what Yamori did to me, I'd recognize the smell anywhere. We'll contact you again once we have the drug."

"Okay," Ogura nodded, he and his assistant standing. "Fare thee well."

"And you," Kaneki said.

Ogura and his assistant left and Kaneki sighed, sitting down.

"So, Kimi's become a doctor for Ghouls," Kaneki said. "At least you don't need to look for her anymore."

"True," Nishiki said. "We should get back. Tsukiyama might be done by now. That, or that psycho owl copy might have gone berserk and killed everyone. Or the _actual_ owl that we so graciously saved and brought home might have."

"Eto won't," Kaneki said. "Takizawa...we should probably check on."

Ayato and Nishiki nodded and they all left, heading back toward the hideout.

* * *

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	43. Chapter 43

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Raid

Kaneki strolled calmly down the street, watching as the Clowns fought and rapidly pushed back the investigators present. There were a lot, but there were hundreds attacking the main office alone. Kaneki had checked up on the Quinx using the news. Mutsuki and Shinsanpei Aura were defending the main office alongside S3, now led by Suzuya, from hundreds of Clowns. Tanakamaru was leading his squad to defend the eighteenth ward. Iwao Kuroiwa was defending the ninth ward from a group of Clowns carrying exploding balloons. Urie and the rest of the Quinx, minus Shinsanpei and Mutsuki, were defending the second ward from arsonist Clowns. And that left the nineteenth and twenty second wards to fend for themselves. So, Kaneki had split his own force between the two to deal wth them.

"Okay," Kaneki said. "This should be close enough. Touka, Ayato, are you ready?"

Both nodded, extending their wings, Kaneki doing the same, stepping up beside Touka and wrapping an arm around her waist, Touka doing the same. Then, the three o them shot into the air, soaring over the ClownClowns just as the investigators' defensive line broke, the investigators falling back rapidly. As the Clowns moved to charge, Kaneki and the other two sent a hail of crystal shards into the front few, then also into the ground in front of them before landing in a line between the investigators and the Clowns. Kaneki turned, looking back at the investigators as he straightened his jacket.

"We'll take it from here," Kaneki said. "Tend to your wounded."

"You're...but...why are you...helping?" the head of the twenty second ward's branch office asked.

"Because we're not the enemy," Kaneki said. "We just happened to be born different."

Then, Kaneki turned back to the front, the three Ukaku types firing into the ranks of the Clowns as the rest of their force tore into them from behind. Hinami, Irimi, and Miza watched from a nearby rooftop, using short-range radios to advise everyone. In the nineteenth ward, Kaneki had Hirako and the rest of the former Arima Squad, along with most of the White Suits and the Cochlea escapees, fighting the Clowns, Nashiro and Kurona having been tasked with making a show of saving the branch office there and giving the same response when asked why. In Kaneki's group in the twenty second ward, he had Naki, Tsukiyama, and Nishiki. After thirty minutes of fighting, Kaneki would be leaving with Touka and heading to meet up with Eto and Takizawa to break into a lab for the RC suppressant.

Kaneki wrapped his wing around his arm, Ayato doing it to both arms as Touka rolled her eyes. Kaneki also pulled out Narukami, speeding forward with Ayato and shredding his way into the Clowns. He didn't bother with his tentacles, since the Clowns here were weak, but he _did_ make sure that he lived up to Arima's teaching as best he could by keeping his suit completely spotless. He ducked under a tackle from a Clown, Narukami flashing through the air as he split the Clown, allowing it to crash to the ground before its halves separated. Then, he stood, slashing his wing and sending a barrage of crystals out of it into the Clowns. Ayato flipped over him, sending crystals raining into the Clowns for a minute before landing and darting forward.

"Don't waste too much energy, Ayato," Kaneki said, splitting a Clown up the front before turning and splitting another downward.

"I'll be fine," Ayato said. "Just focus on keeping that suit clean, you fucking neat freak."

"It's my way of paying respect to my teacher," Kaneki said, switching Narukami to ranged mode and blasting a handful of Clowns who had been rushing Ayato, then switching it back.

He looked to the side just as a Clown fell at Nishiki from above. Nishiki's tail shot upward, splitting it in half instantly before swiping along the ground and mowing a large group down. Kaneki retracted his wing, pulling out his phone as he continued slaughtering Clowns. Ayato rolled his eyes.

"Really?" Ayato asked. "You can't check your messages later?"

"Checking the time," Kaneki said. "Only fifteen minutes? We'll be home by lunch boys!"

Several of the Black Goat members nearby cheered and Kaneki grinned, re-extending his wing and continuing to slaughter the Clowns. As he did, the others from Goat pushed harder, rapidly slaughtering the Clowns from both sides. Finally, the Clowns managed to escape the pincer trap they had been in and the fighting spilled into other streets. With more room to maneuver, the remaining few Clowns were able to hold off a bit longer, though only barely.

"Tsukiyama!" Kaneki called out as he neared him, both mopping up what few clowns were still near the Branch Office.

"Twenty minutes," Tsukiyama said.

"We'll be out of here in no-" He was cut off as a man wearing a black suit and a black hat sprinted out of an alleyway barely twenty feet from Kaneki and slashed at him with a black-bladed katana, Kaneki barely dodging it, the katana cutting the strap for his eyepatch.

Kaneki responded by slashing Narukami and his wing upward at the man in an "X" across the man's torso, only for the man to have leapt backward, escaping the blow. Kaneki grit his teeth, growling in rage as more and more of them began to appear, forming into a line further down the road, most of the fighting having returned to the main street.

"Exterminate," the group's leader ordered, the V members sprinting forward instantly, tearing into the White Suits rapidly.

Three sped directly to Kaneki, attacking him relentlessly, Kaneki deflecting or dodging their strikes as best he could, suddenly feeling like he was fighting against Arima with Arima toying with him. He managed to split one of the three in half across the torso with his wing finally, seeing the others struggling. Tsukiyama had a gash in his shoulder, Nishiki had been stabbed in the left bicep and the right forearm, Ayato in the leg and had a gash in his side, and Naki had numerous gashes over his body now. Kaneki blocked both of his remaining opponents' swords just as another sped past him. He shoved the blades away, turning and looking back, seeing the man slash a volley of crystals from Touka out of the air, pulling his sword back to slash him.

Kaneki's tentacles exploded out of his back, shredding the back of his suit jacket, and two impaled the V members he was fighting through the face before the other two grabbing the member attacking Touka, a tentacle binding each arm before one wrapped around his legs and the other around his neck and under that arm.

"Don't you _dare_ lay a hand on her," Kaneki snarled, pulling the man away from Touka before ripping him in half, making sure he didn't get any on Touka.

Then, he turned, hurling the two full corpses and the two pieces of the other into four more V members, allowing the ghouls they were fighting to kill them. Four leapt at Kaneki as his tentacles were retracting, but he had lost patience. He slashed, sending crystals out at all four, making them defend before jumping and slashing with his wing and Narukami, splitting all four at the waist. As he landed, Irimi landed beside him.

"It's time to go," Irimi said. "We'll clean up here."

"Be careful," Kaneki said. "I don't want to lose anyone."

Irimi nodded, holding out a full-length black coat fro Kaneki, which he traded his ruined white coat for.

"Goat," he called out. "I have to leave here ahead of you. Follow Tsukiyama's orders in my absence."

He turned, picking up Touka bridal style and extended his wing, his tentacles forming another, then flew into the air, heading to the rally point for the lab-raiding party. As they landed, Eto walked over, narrowing her eyes.

"It was V, right?" Eto asked.

"Yes," Kaneki nodded. "How's the nineteenth ward?"

"No V present," Takizawa said. "Just got off the phone with Hirako. They're still fighting the Clowns, but they're nearly done. I warned Hirako about V. He said that they'll be ready if they show up."

"They probably will," Kaneki nodded. "Okay. Let's get this over with."

The others nodded and they all headed for the lab. Once there, Takizawa quickly, and surprisingly quietly, caught a worker and used his eye to open the retinal scan while Eto got them all uniforms. They all pulled them on over their clothes and headed into the lab, making their way through it quickly. They got to the storage room, searching it as quickly as they could. While they did, Kaneki found a research logbook mentioning Research Facility 4.

"It must be here," Kaneki said, Touka nodding in agreement.

They made their way through to the facility and stopped just outside a door, Kaneki listening.

"Eight inside," Kaneki said. "We passed the generator room on the way here, right?"

"Yes," Touka nodded.

"Good," Kaneki said, extending a tentacle. "I'll draw one out."

He drove the tentacle up into the ceiling, several a power cable to the room. He retracted the tentacle just as a door opened and he caught the man by the throat, shoving the door open for the others and stepping inside. A woman began to run but Kaneki shot a crystal shard into the floor at her feet.

"Everyone get against that wall," Kaneki said, pointing in the opposite direction the woman had been running, also away from the canisters of RC suppressant.

A woman bolted for an alarm button but Takizawa tackled her. Just as he did, she reached up to the side, pressing a large red button.

"What was that?" Takizawa demanded. "What'd you hit?"

Suddenly, a stasis pod against the wall in front of the RC suppressors lit up, Amon floating inside. He opened his eyes, remaining still for a moment before anger grew on his face and he punched the glass, shattering it and falling to his hands and knees, the same blade-like kagune that he had gotten from Eto growing out of his shoulders.

"He's losing control," Eto said. "He's an incomplete Kakuja."

"I'll deal with him," Kaneki said.

"No," Touka said, catching his shoulder. "You need to get back to the twenty second ward in order to make sure V is defeated. You also need to get the RC suppressant to that woman."

"She's right," Eto said, forming her own blades. "Let owls fight an owl."

Takizawa nodded in agreement, stepping forward. Kaneki watched them for a moment before nodding.

"Okay," Kaneki said. "If you can, don't kill him. Just snap him out of it and bring him back with you."

"Can do," Eto smiled.

Kaneki turned, walking back out of the lab with Touka.

* * *

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	44. Chapter 44

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Awake

Kaneki stepped into the room, Akira glancing at him before turning to stare at the wall beside her, hiding her face.

"How do you feel?" Kaneki asked.

"Like shit," Akira said. "It's all a little...fuzzy. Are you...someone I know?"

Kaneki remained silent for a long while. "Akira...For me, nothing's changed. To me...you're still-"

"As far as I'm concerned," Akira interrupted, "how should I put it...the investigator I know would have never turned his blade on Arima. To me, you're just another ghoul."

Kaneki felt as though she had driven a knife into his heart. He sighed silently. "Okay. I'm sorry for disturbing you. But, I'm so happy that you're alright."

He left the room, sitting against the wall and resting his head in his hands. He had known she would respond something like that. But that didn't make it any easier to hear. After a moment, Hirako sat beside him.

"I shouldn't have said anything," Kaneki said. "I should have just focused on her being okay."

"No," Hirako said. "It's better this way. It's better to just get it out in the open than to leave any room for misinterpretation."

"I suppose," Kaneki sighed. "I really am glad she's okay. I just...wish I could help her."

"For her, it's only been a short while," Hirako said. "Before she was wounded, she was a ghoul investigator. When she woke up, she was a wanted criminal, and was being held by ghouls, including one who was like a son to her, but who betrayed the CCG. it will take time for her to adjust. However, we may be able to shorten the process."

"How?" Kaneki asked.

"Hinami," Hirako said. "Hinami hates her for what her father did. So Hinami may be able to save her."

Kaneki's eyes suddenly lit up. "I can do one better."

Hirako raised an eyebrow as Kaneki stood. "I need to make a call."

He rushed off, finding Irimi speaking with Tsukiyama and Matsumae.

"Irimi, I have a question," Kaneki said.

"What is it?" Irimi asked.

"Do you know where Ryoko is current?" Kaneki asked.

"I do," Irimi nodded.

"Bring her here," Kaneki said.

"Hinami asked us to keep her hidden," Irimi said. "That way she'd be safe."

"She's not safe," Kaneki said. "With Furuta in charge, no one is safe. I need you to trust me on this, Irimi."

Irimi regarded him for a moment before nodding. "Okay. I'll be back shortly."

Kaneki nodded and Irimi left. As she did, Kaneki caught sight of Amon heading for the kitchen. He followed, but stopped just outside, listening as he spoke with Touka.

"Are you going to go and see her?" Touka asked.

"I'm afraid," Amon said. "I'm not a human. But I'm not a ghoul either. I have no place anywhere. Least of all at her side."

There was a long pause before Touka spoke again. "You know, I want to see her too. I might even have to. But I'm afraid. I'm the one that killed her father, your superior. She won't want to see me. If even you don't have the courage to go and see her, I won't be able to."

"Rabbit," Amon said. "When you killed Mado, I felt pain, and rage. It lit a fire in my chest that will burn until the day I die. But it doesn't burn at you. It burns at this twisted world that forced us to do what we did. He did his job, and you defended yourself. You just happened to win. I don't blame you, and I bear no grudge against you. That's what I came here to tell you."

"Can I ask you something?" Touka asked. "Did you ever think about her? All that time that you were traveling, did you ever want to see her?"

"Every day," Amon said after a moment.

"If it were me, I wouldn't care about how long it had been," Touka said. "I wouldn't care about whatever changes he had been through. As long as he eventually came home, I wouldn't be mad at all. You should see Akira."

Kaneki turned, walking away from the kitchen. They didn't need him there. He reached the main room just as someone shouted, sounding to be in pain. He turned toward the front door, finding a sight that actually made him laugh. Ihe had Naki pinned to the ground with a foot to his throat, a quinque blade extended from the front of her shoe, Banjou at her side, bent forward at the waist to the point that he was almost falling over with Ihe holding him there by the ear, and had her usual white quinque held to Matsumae's throat. Because Naki was i danger of dying, Miza, who Kaneki had a suspicion was developing feelings for the foolish White Suits leader, was helpless to stop this would-be invader, and because Matsumae had a blade to her throat, Tsukiyama was equally unable to make a move. Banjou, on the other hand, Kaneki just found comical since he looked so strong but was being dragged around by the ear.

"Hello Ihe," Kaneki said. "Does this mean that you've come to arrest me?"

"No no," Ihe smiled. "I just finished recovering from a wound I suffered on Rue Island when I had to help fight Koutarou Amon. Otherwise I'd have been here to join you sooner."

"Why?" Kaneki asked.

"Because silly, I still owe you my life," Ihe said. "And besides, I was a member of Arima's squad, remember? He gave me the same order as Hirako."

"It's alright guys," Kaneki said. "She's not going to hurt us. And if she does, I can deal with her. How are things with the Quinx?"

Ihe's expression darkened as she released Banjou, letting Naki up and lowering her quinque, the blade in her shoe retracting. "Urie was seriously wounded fighting Donato Porpora in order to give Higemaru time to escape. Higemaru escaped but lost both arms in the process. They'll grow back, but not for a while. Urie continued to fight, and ended up framing out. However, Saiko Yonebayashi and Ching-Li Hsiao were able to subdue him and bring him back to his senses."

"Okay," Kaneki nodded. "And Mutsuki?"

"That's the real reason why I came her now rather than continuing to look after them," Ihe said. "You need to see this. I found it on a traffic camera after the Clowns assault ended."

He handed him a tablet and he saw a video waiting to be played. He pressed play and watched as Uta, who he still had a few harsh words for, fight against Suzuya before taking off, Mutsuki following. As he watched, Mutsuki rapidly began to gain the upper hand, pinning Uta to the ground and stabbing him several times. Then, Uta's face changed. Kaneki paused the video and zoomed in, the tablet auto-enhancing the video until he was looking at his own face. He hit play, turning the sound up.

"Let me up, Mutsuki," Uta said in Kaneki's voice.

"Teach," Mutsuki breathed. "Yes." Then, she drove her knife hilt deep into Uta's throat, probably hitting his spinal cord and paralyzing him. "Don't go away. Never again. Please Teach. When you're not here I..."

As she was speaking, she was driving her knife into Uta's face again and again.

"I love you Teach," Mutsuki said, still mutilating Uta's face, this time with a smile on her face.

When she finally finished, Uta had been mutilated so badly that he was completely unrecognizable. His lower jaw had come off at one point, his blood coated both of them, and there was barely anything left of his face.

Kaneki paused the video. "Yeah, she's...angry."

"No," Ihe said. "She's unhinged. Play the rest. You need to see."

Kaneki sighed but nodded, resuming the video. Mutsuki lay down on Uta's chest.

"All done," Mutsuki smiled. "He's all done. I won't kill him. Won't kill him. He's mine."

Then, she began to grind herself against him, Kaneki's eyes widening as he began to feel sick to his stomach. After a moment, Mutsuki sat up, letting her coat fall behind her and pulling off her shirt before pulling her pants and underwear out of the way, mounting Uta and beginning to rape him. Kaneki stared at the tablet, open-mouthed, as Mutsuki continued to ask Kaneki not to leave her, and saying how much she loved him. Kaneki swallowed hard, finally pausing the video and lowering the tablet.

"What do we do?" Kaneki asked.

"The only way to deal with that, is to kill them," Ihe said. "I'm sorry. We didn't catch it until it was too late. There's nothing we can do anymore."

"I don't believe that," Kaneki said. "Takizawa had gone insane too, and we saved him."

"That wasn't like this," Ihe said. "Takizawa was less insane than Mutsuki, and also didn't have years of childhood trauma tainting his entire life after without anyone having tried to help him."

"There has to be a way to save Mutsuki," Kaneki said.

Ihe sighed. "You and your damned hero complex. Whatever. If you don't kill her, she'll probably target Touka. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Ihe walked away, further into the hideout and Kaneki sighed, staring at the tablet. After a moment, he sent the video to his phone.

"What are you doing?" Miza asked.

"Being careful," Kaneki said, smashing the tablet, and everything inside of it. "Call me paranoid."

"No, that was smart," Matsumae nodded. "Letting that woman in here, though, I'm not so sure."

"It'll be fine," Kaneki said. "She's loyal, so she won't cause trouble. Though, she might want to settle the score between the two of you with a sparring match."

Matsumae sighed, nodding. Kaneki turned to Tsukiyama.

"Where's Kanae?" Kaneki asked.

"She's on guard duty today," Tsukiyama said. "She should be back later."

Kaneki nodded. He sighed, faking a yawn and excusing himself, saying he was tired and wanted to rest. Not entirely untrue, but really he just needed to be alone to talk to someone. He walked to his room, sitting on his bed and opening his phone, sending a message to Urie.

"Are you okay?"

After a moment, a response appeared. "I'm fine. 'Nurse Saiko' is taking care of me while I rest."

"Now I'm even more worried," Kaneki said. "How is she?"

"Worried," Urie said. "My memories from being out of control are kind of hazy, but...I think she said she loves me."

"Good for you," Kaneki said, smiling. "What about you?"

"Never really thought about it," Urie replied. "I assume Ihe found you after disappearing?"

"Yes," Kaneki said. "How's Higemaru?"

"Recovering," Urie responded. "A few days."

Kaneki sighed, loading the video he had sent to himself. "I know you're still recovering, but I need you to do do something."

"What?" Urie asked.

"Help her," Kaneki messaged, sending the video with it.

After several minutes of silence, a message finally came. "I'll try. Saiko says hello and to tell you that she smelled human blood on Mutsuki, but Mutsuki's RC cell count is currently three, so she's suppressing it somehow. Be careful. We don't actually know what Mutsuki and do anymore. Especially now. We'll try to help her if we can."

Kaneki shut his phone off and stood, walking back to the main room, deciding to go and pay Uta a visit. As he reached the door, he stopped, looking back to Touka, who was watching him with her hands on her hips.

"I'll be back," he promised. "I'm going to see Uta."

"Okay," Touka said. "In that case, I'm going with you."

Kaneki chuckled and nodded. Touka walked over, grabbing Narukami's briefcase from beside the door and holding it out to Kaneki, who smiled and accepted it. They left the building, finding Shiro out front, Kuro a short distance away. Shiro turned to them and smiled.

"Hello Kaneki," Shiro smiled. "Where are you going?"

"We're heading over to Uta's for a bit," Kaneki said. "Maybe Itori's. We'll be back in a little while. Can you let Tsukiyama know?"

"Sure," Shiro nodded.

Kaneki thanked her and they left, heading into the city and making their way to Uta's shop, avoiding attention on the way. As they opened the door to the shop, Kaneki stopped, finding Uta in the process of making a mask, sewing several materials together. He looked up at them and smiled.

"Kaneki, Touka," Uta smiled. "Welcome. How can I help you?"

"I heard you had some trouble with one of my former students," Kaneki said, walking around, inspecting the masks.

"Yes," Uta nodded. "She definitely surprised me. Stabbed my spine to paralyze me so that she could do as she pleased."

"So I heard," Kaneki nodded. "How're you holding up?"

"Good as new," Uta smiled. "Speaking of good as new, I have something for you."

Kaneki turned to him as Uta held out a replica of Kaneki's mask, along with a new eyepatch and a spare.

"I made you a replacement eyepatch for the one that was ruined in your fight with V, and also made you a spare mask and eyepatch, just in case," Uta smiled.

"Thank you," Kaneki smiled, accepting the mask and eyepatches, tucking the spare eyepatch into his pocket and pulling the other eyepatch, along with the mask, on. "Perfect as always, Uta."

He pulled the mask down, stopping as he stared at a particular Clown mask, one that belonged to Furuta. Beside it was one with a crown on the forehead. Donato Porpora.

"There's actually something I needed to ask of you," Kaneki said. "A favor, if you will."

"Sure," Uta nodded. "What do you need?"

"I have a question, first," Kaneki said. "Do you remember the conversation we had before Cochlea?"

"Of course," Uta nodded.

"What was it I asked you to do?" Kaneki asked.

"Protect Touka," Uta said.

"I see," Kaneki nodded. "And...remind me, what was it you _actually_ did?"

"I released Donato Porpora," Uta said. "Touka had Ayato and Renji with her. She was safe."

"Yes," Kaneki said. "Safe. I'm sure Yomo would agree, seeing as he got stabbed in the throat by Arima while he was with Touka. Probably not the safest place to be right then. But I'm sure when Touka was getting shot in the back by two Special Class Investigators it wasn't actually as bad as it seemed."

"No, it was pretty bad," Touka said. "I had to time the release of my Kagune with the exact moment I got shot to cancel it, otherwise I'd have been blown apart."

"Hm," Kaneki hummed. "You know, forgive me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't exactly sound like she was safe to me. Does that sound safe to you Uta?"

"Not exactly," Uta said. "But she's alive."

"Yes she is," Kaneki agreed. "Which is the only thing that's kept me from killing you so far."

Uta's small smile fell away into an emotionless mask as he studied Kaneki, probably trying to gauge whether he could take Kaneki in a fight.

"So, let's recap," Kaneki said. "You _didn't_ protect Touka. You _did_ release a SS-rate ghoul that I had absolutely no intention of _ever_ allowing to see the light of day, and you _did_ attack my student and my friends, Mutsuki and Suzuya. You _did_ trick CCG Investigators into murdering innocent civilians, and because _you_ let him out, Donato Porpora almost killed two of my other students, and forced one of them into a rage, causing him to nearly kill two _more_ of my students, as well as nearly dying, _yet again_. Do you see the problem here?" Kaneki finally asked.

"It seems I've made you extremely angry," Uta said.

"Well, I wouldn't say angry," Kaneki said. "No, I was angry with Ayato when he ate Touka's kagune. I was angry with Takizawa when he attacked Hinami. I was angry with Tanakamaru and Kiyoko Aura when they hurt Ayato and Touka. I was angry with Arima when he hurt Yomo and threatened to kill the others. No, I'm not angry with you Uta. I want to rip you apart into sinews so that I can wrap you around a spit and hang you over a fire, just to watch you burn. Hell, I want to do to you what Yamori did to me."

"I see," Uta said.

"No, you don't," Kaneki said. "You don't have any idea what Yamori was like. You _do_ realize that the reason my hair is white is the hell that Yamori put me through, right?"

Uta remained silent.

Kaneki sighed. "But, you _are_ a friend. So I'm going to give you a choice, rather than just killing you outright. Leave the Clowns and join Black Goat. Do that, and I'll consider trusting you again. If you refuse, I'll consider you a Clown, and an enemy of Goat. And in that case, I'll exterminate you the next time we meet."

Uta watched him for several minutes before walking back to the mask he was working on when they arrived, resuming his work. "I joined the Clowns because I was bored, and I wanted something to do that would make my heart race. To a certain extent, I found that in my shop here. But the only time I ever truly felt alive was when I was fighting with Renji. The entire time we fought, we were always mere seconds away from dying at all times. I loved ever second of it. Do you know how long it's been since he and I fought?"

"Decades," Kaneki said.

"That's right," Uta nodded. "I released Crown, Donato Porpora, because he understands how I feel, and he creates interesting situations. As for Souta, Furuta, I don't know what he's after, but he seems to have fun doing it, so I can't entirely fault him. After all, that's what the Clowns were formed for. Just so that ghouls that got bored could find enjoyment in other ways." Uta sighed, lowering his hand from the mask. "I'm sorry, Kaneki. I can't accept your deal. A world in which everyone lives peacefully just seems too boring for me. I enjoy chaos. It's just the way I am."

"Okay," Kaneki nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that. For the sake of not having to kill anymore friends, I hope you and I never meet again."

Uta nodded. "It was nice seeing you again, Kaneki."

"I wish I could say the same," Kaneki said.

He turned, walking out of the building with Touka, both heading back toward the hideout again.

* * *

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	45. Chapter 45

I do not on Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.

* * *

Message

Kaneki watched the TV in silence, Touka doing the same. On the screen, Furuta was giving a speech about how how was introducing a new force within the CCG. One known as the Oggai, the newly created Quinx squad. He talked about how the original Quinx squad had produced exceptional investigators like Urie and Mutsuki, so he had taken a step further. And then, he introduced the proof of their usefulness. A person was thrown onto the stage, all of the cameras zooming in instantly, focusing on the person as they looked up. Except, the person was Kaneki. Or, at least, they looked exactly like him.

"Who the hell..." Kaneki trailed off watching as Furuta blathered on about how the Oggai had captured him and about how great they were and on and on and on.

As he talked, the rest of the Oggai walked off stage, returning with Clowns, though whether they were real Clowns or civilians dressed like Clowns, he wasn't sure. After a moment, Furuta asked the fake Kaneki if he had led the Clowns. Upon receiving no answer, he nodded to the Oggai now standing at his side. The Oggai instantly slammed a devastating kick to the fake Kaneki's abdomen, likely shattering his ribs but definitely rupturing something, judging by the blood running down the fake Kaneki's chin. Then, he walked to the side of the stage and waved an arm, stating that peace would only come if all ghouls in the world were eliminated. Then, he waved his hand and the Oggai all drew sickle-shaped quinque, decapitating the captured clowns, right there on live television.

As soon as he had, he began to speak again, this time with a crazed expression on his face, and shouting. He announced to the would that the Clowns had mixed civilians into their numbers when they attacked, resulting in countless innocent deaths. Then, he announced that the CCG would begin to exterminate every last ghoul in Tokyo, and that the Oggai would be leading the charge. Then, a deafening cheer began to ring out from the assembled investigators. Finally, Kaneki shut the TV off, swallowing hard. Those were the children Furuta had been talking about. All of them had had Rize's kakuho transplanted into them.

"So that's what it's come to," Kaneki mused. "I should have killed Furuta while I had the chance." He sighed, standing. "Guess we've run out of time."

"Where are you going?" Touka asked.

"I'm going to deliver the CCG an ultimatum for the entire world to hear," Kaneki said.

He walked to the door, finding most of the others of the inner circle gathered.

"Where are you going?" Tsukiyama asked.

"To make a huge mistake," Kaneki said. "I'm going to offer peace to the CCG, and to request the chance to have peace talks. And I'm going to do it by hacking the entire city's TV and internet."

"I have someone who might actually be able to do that," Tsukiyama said. "Follow me."

"Not without me," Touka said.

"Or us," Kuro said, indicating herself and Shiro.

Kaneki nodded and the five of them headed out, reaching a news broadcasting station at the same time as a young girl.

"My name's Chie Hori," the girl introduced herself. "I'm a friend of Shu's."

"Nice to meet you," Kaneki said, pulling his mask down. "Can you take control of every TV channel and the internet from here?"

"Sure," Chie nodded. "It'll just take me a few minutes."

"Alright," Kaneki nodded. "Let's go ask permission."

He pushed the door open, everyone in the one small room filled with monitors looking over at him before scrambling to their feet.

"I won't hurt any of you," Kaneki said, hands raised placatingly. "I just need to borrow your equipment for a few minutes. After that, I'll leave you all in peace."

They all looked at each other before watching as Chie went to work, plugging her computer into the main computer and hijacking as many signals as she could, as well as starting a video feed to the CCG website with a virus to send an alert to anyone with an internet connection on their phone. Then, she turned to Kaneki, nodding.

"The computer's camera will record you, and send your message all over the city," Chie said. "I set up a special program so that the CCG won't be able to delete the video. Once you're ready, just hit enter."

"Do you happen to have a recording of us fighting the Clowns?" Kaneki asked.

"Yes," Chie nodded. "I figured you might want that. Just click on the video at the top of the screen and that will replace the video of you until you pause it. Then you'll be recording again."

Kaneki nodded and sat down in front of the computer, taking a moment to get it centered on him. Then he pressed play.

"Hello, my name is Ken Kaneki," Kaneki said. "Although, you all know me as Haise Sasaki. As you may have seen, the CCG claim to have executed me, however, this is simply a ruse to gain your trust. As you can see, it's a lie. I would like to bring a few things to your attention, things the CCG, particularly the new director, does not want you to know. Firstly, I did not lead the Clowns. In fact, my organization, known as Black Goat, fought against the Clowns in order to protect the CCG. In case you don't believe me, here's my proof."

He pressed play on the video, wondering for a moment where Chie had gotten the footage. It was good. In the video, Kaneki, Touka, and Ayato flew to the front of the Clowns and stopped their advance. Then, quite clearly, Kaneki told the CCG that he would handle the Clowns, and for them to gather their wounded. Then, he and his friends began to fight the clowns back. Finally, Kaneki paused the video.

"I apologize for the graphic scenes toward the end, but death isn't pretty, no matter whose it is," Kaneki said. "Now, as you just saw, I bear the CCG no ill will. Nor any human. I have no intention of attempting to take over the city, or wipe out the CCG, or whatever other rumors you might have heard. I merely want peace between humans and ghouls. Did you know that the number one most researched subject in the world today is Ghoul Physiology? For anyone who doesn't like big words, that means that the majority of scientists and doctors in the world are studying ghouls, and how their bodies work. And every single one of those doctors and scientists is using that knowledge to learn how to better kill my kind. My kind is capable of eating exactly one thing in existence. Humans. Any other type of food, even animals, makes us violently sick, and acts as poison to our bodies, killing us. And for that, the CCG and other similar organizations around the would have decided that all ghouls need to die. That's fair. I can understand the reasoning behind it. But try to see it from our point of view.

"Imagine, for a moment, that humankind was only capable of eating...let's say...deer meat, and that any other kind of food, be it vegetables, fruit, grain, beans, even other types of meat, would kill a human to eat. Then, imagine that the deer decided that all humans had to die, simply because that was the only thing humans could eat. Would you consider that fair? Would you, if you could, try with all of your power, to find something else to eat? Of course you would. Because you don't _want_ to be hunted to extinction. Well, neither do we. Take it from someone who knows, if there were another option besides eating humans, we would take it in a heartbeat. And, coincidentally, there actually _could_ be an alternative. The majority of the scientists of the world spend their lives studying ghouls, but not a single one has ever thought, 'Hey, why don't we create a type of artificial food that ghouls can survive off of, that way they don't have to eat us.' Not a single scientist has ever once considered looking for an alternative to slaughtering ghoul for being physically capable of surviving on only one food source. So I have a message for the CCG. I want to discuss peace with you. The CCG possesses the most brilliant and the most knowledgeable ghoul researchers in the entire world. If it were possible for an artificial food source to be created for ghouls, it would most likely be them to be able to create it. So, I wish to discuss a peace treaty of sorts with the CCG. A way to end the bloodshed on both sides without one species or the other having to go extinct. We will be monitoring the CCG website, and we await their answer. We hope that the CCG is willing to consider peace, rather than choosing to commit genocide against my kind simply because they don't care to try to help us find alternative food sources. Thank you for listening, and I apologize for interrupting whatever you were doing. Have a good day."

He ended the broadcast, Chie disconnecting and restoring everything to the way it should be, with the exception of leaving the video stuck on the CCG's home page. Then, she nodded to Kaneki and the others.

"This building's probably surrounded by now," Touka said.

"We'll be fine," Kaneki said, turning to the humans that were watching him speechlessly, bowing as he spoke. "I apologize for intruding and for borrowing your equipment. Thank you for your time."

He straightened up and opened the door, stepping out and finding Kiyoko, Urie, Saiko, Hsiao, and Higemaru all standing outside, quinque in-hand. Kaneki sighed, stepping forward, holding up a hand to tell the others to stay put.

"Urie," Kaneki said. "I'm not surprised that it's you."

"Of course," Urie said. "It has to be us. You were our teacher. We have to be the ones to deal with you as we see fit."

Kaneki nodded, sighing, looking to Kiyoko. "Hello Kiyoko. How are you?"

"Well, thank you," Kiyoko smiled. "When I tried to stop you in Cochlea, I fully expected to die. You were surprisingly gentle."

"I didn't want to hurt you at all," Kaneki said. "I just wanted to protect the people I care about."

Kiyoko nodded. "And now you're trying to make peace."

"Furuta will never accept," Kaneki said. "His response will be to send the Oggai out to slaughter every ghoul they can find. I'm just hoping that his response will lose the CCG support now that I've said my piece."

"It will," Urie nodded. "Now that it's been pointed out that there's an alternative that no one ever took the time to consider, the entire world will demand it be taken."

"So, what do we do about this?" Kaneki asked, gesturing around at himself and them.

Saiko walked forward silently, stopping in front of Kaneki before smiling and hugging him. "I missed you Maman."

"I missed you too, Saiko," Kaneki smiled, hugging her back. "Keep looking out for Urie, okay? Don't let him get himself killed."

Saiko smiled, nodding. "I won't."

Kaneki looked to Urie, who rolled his eyes.

"I'm not going to get myself killed," Urie said.

Kaneki nodded. "You should consider giving your answer. You never know how long you'll have. Especially with Furuta in charge."

Urie nodded and Kaneki looked to Kiyoko and the others.

"As far as I'm concerned, we arrived too late," Kiyoko said.

"Yes, it's a shame," Hsiao said. "I wanted to test my training against the man that trained my superiors."

"Same," Higemaru smiled.

"I'm glad you've recovered," Kaneki said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to see each other again soon."

Urie nodded and Kaneki and the rest of the ghouls took off, escaping into the back alleys and then the sewer before anyone else from the CCG arrived. After a while of traveling through the sewer, they reached their hideout and climbed out in a back alley, heading into the building.

"Welcome back," Nishiki said. "Good news, your video's popular."

"How popular?" Kaneki asked.

"A couple hundred thousand views already, and thousands of people have already sent emails and posted on the CCG website, demanding that someone look into alternative food sources," Hinami said. "We might actually be able to have peace after all."

"No," Kaneki said. "Furuta's going to send the Oggai after us. It's only a matter of time. And V will probably also be sent."

"So it was pointless?" Miza asked.

"Not pointless," Kaneki said. "Now that people are demanding peace, and know that we are asking for peace, imagine what their reactions will be when the CCG starts slaughtering ghouls, rather than considering that peace."

"Shouldn't we help the ghouls?" Nishiki asked.

"The Oggai are all made from Rize's kakuho," Kaneki said. "They're going to be powerful, terrifyingly so. And they're going to be able to track ghouls even better than Hinami."

"How do you know that?" Hinami asked.

"Because Furuta needs them to be able to in order for them to kill every single ghoul," Kaneki said. "It's more of a hunch, but it makes sense."

"Kaneki's right," Yomo said. "We need to be able to help as much as we can, but we won't be able to save many. It'll be a slaughter fest, no matter what."

"Are we really okay with that?" Touka asked. "What if we met the Oggai when they're deployed, and fought them?"

"Then Furuta would be able to say _we_ attacked _them_ ," Kaneki sighed. "We can't fight the Oggai. Well, at least not to start with. We're definitely _going_ to fight the Oggai, but we're going to wait for as long as we can before hand. Instead, we'll focus on trying to rescue ghoul children and families from them. As many as we can."

"When do we switch from running away to fighting back?" Nishiki asked.

"As soon as we know the public will support it," Kaneki said. "We're not fighting a physical war this time. It's as much about public opinion as it is about beating the CCG."

"Are we going to win?" Nishiki asked. "And are we going to survive?"

"Yes," Kaneki nodded. "We _can_ win, and we _will_ survive."

The others all nodded and began to disperse. As they did, Kaneki walked up to the roof of the building, finding a spot where the people in the street wouldn't be able to see him, and sat down, staring up at the stars. After a moment, Takizawa stepped up beside him.

"So, you've been declared war on, and you respond by asking for peace," Takizawa said. "Bold."

"Yeah," Kaneki said, staring down at the roof below him quietly.

"You really okay with letting so many ghouls die when this all starts?" Takizawa asked.

"No," Kaneki said. "But if we fight the Oggai, just as many people will be killed because the public will see us as monsters again, and demand we be killed. This is the only way."

"Well, if nothing else, at least you're a good public speaker," Takizawa said.

"I suppose," Kaneki said. "Hey, Takizawa."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for saving Amon," Kaneki said.

"It's not like I did it for you, or for him," Takizawa said.

Kaneki smiled. "I suppose. Still though."

"Anyway, my job's done," Takizawa said. "I'm leaving."

"You said you'd join if we saved Akira," Kaneki said.

"And I did," Takizawa said. "Now it's time for me to leave. Here."

He tossed a necklace to Kaneki, who caught it. It was a silver cross on a chain. Kaneki recognized it as Amon's instantly.

"Give that back to Amon for me," Takizawa said, walking away, only to instantly catch it as Kaneki threw it back.

"I'm not taking it," Kaneki said.

Takizawa stared at the necklace. "It's just a simple chain, and yet, it feels so heavy. Whatever, I'm out of here."

"You sure you don't want to stay?" Kaneki asked. "I think Eto has taken a liking to you."

Takizawa stared back at him in silence before rolling his eyes. "I don't care what that crazy bitch likes. She's the reason I'm like this. I still owe her for taking my life away from me."

"I asked her about that," Kaneki said. "She said that Tatara was acting on his own when he targeted you and Amon. All Eto did was save your life by having Kanou give you the operation. It may not be the life you wanted, but at least you _are_ alive."

Takizawa sighed, staring at his feet. "You really do know what to say. Fine. I'll stick around. At least for a little while."

Kaneki nodded, watching Takizawa head inside before turning back to the front, sighing heavily. After a few more minutes, Touka sat beside him.

"Am I making the right choice?" Kaneki asked.

"I don't know," Touka said. "Maybe. But there's no way to be sure. We just have to have faith. All of us will follow you to whatever end."

"I know," Kaneki sighed. "That's what terrifies me. I don't know if I'll be able to protect all of you."

"You don't need to," Touka said. "This is about more than just us. We can take care of ourselves. Right now, you need to focus on making peace between ghouls and humans. Let us worry about ourselves."

Kaneki sighed, Touka wrapping her arms around him. "I love you Touka."

"I love you too," Touka smiled.

She kissed him for a moment before pulling back, standing and holding out her hand. He accepted her help, standing, and followed her back inside.

* * *

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